We entered the week with news of the potential peak/flattening of the curve being possible. On Thursday, the projected peak day for cases according to the closely watched University of Washington model, President Trump began to lay out the framework for the reopening of the economy with a 3-Phase plan. He stated it will be up to governors within states to use federal guidance, but suggested the process could begin within a matter of days rather than months in lowly impacted states. The president also said he spoke with all major sports commissioners and the current plans are to resume sports without fans, with a return to normalcy after the passing of the virus. The day ended on an especially optimistic note as Gilead’s Pharmaceutical’s trial of the already promising drug Remdesivir, used to treat Ebola, proved highly effective in treating COVID-19 patients in a University of Chicago study. In the study “nearly all” hospitalized patients treated daily with the drug were released within a week.
As of this entry, there are 2,184,784 cases, 146,899 deaths, and 553,260 recoveries worldwide. In the US, there are 678,210 cases, 34,641 deaths, and 57,844 recoveries. While in Florida, we have 23,340 cases and 668 deaths.
We experienced over 96,000 additional diagnosed cases and over 12,000 deaths worldwide Thursday. Both new highs within a day for the third consecutive day. The question is if it will prove to have been the peak as predicted? In the United States, we had over 33,000 new cases and greater than 6,000 deaths, making Thursday the deadliest day for the virus in the US. For the month of April, COVID-19 has been the top estimated cause of death in the United States.
We had 821 new cases and 54 deaths in Florida due to the coronavirus in the last 24-hours. Overall new diagnosed cases were lower but deaths were higher. There’s renewed emphasis on protecting nursing home and elder care facilities from the virus, as Florida Department of Health officials identified 20% of all COVID-19 deaths have come from those who contracted the virus in one of these facilities. Today Governor DeSantis is expected to formally announce his Task Force on reopening Florida’s economy. He stated the team will study agriculture, education, events, recreation, restaurants, small businesses, and travel, implying the reopening of the state may come in sector-specific stages.
Still, more than half of all of Florida’s cases currently are in the tri-county area with Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach having the most cases in the state in that order.
- Broward: 3,466
- Miami-Dade: 8,326
- Palm Beach: 1,867
We continue to see a high rate of positive test results in Florida but the news improved on Thursday. To date, 10% of all tests for COVID - 19 have come back positive. That’s a decline from 11%, meaning those most recently tested are less likely to test positive for the virus, perhaps indicating a potential turning of the corner in community spread of the virus across the state. The further into testing we go the more likely the newest diagnosed cases are new cases. This reinforces the importance of adhering to the warnings of public officials including social distancing and safer-at-home declarations. The highest concentration of cases is coming from those between the ages of 45-54.
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