As the world continues to struggle with a rise in COVID-19 cases, Wednesday brought about the second-highest day of cases yet around the world. There are now 13,706,050 cases 587,144 deaths, and 8,166,465 recoveries worldwide. It was also the deadliest in a month. Similarly, the US had its highest day for cases and most deaths in a day in over a month. We now have, 3,617,040 cases, 140,150 deaths and 1,645,966 recoveries.
Meanwhile, in Florida, we now have 301,810 cases, 4,521 deaths, and 34,219 recoveries. The news was a continuation of rising trends with 10,181 new cases, more than Wednesday a week ago. The moving average continued to rise and currently sits north of 11 thousand daily cases over the past week. There were 112 related deaths yesterday and likewise, the moving average sits at a new high of 90 per day. The averages are important as we’re looking to see if the recent spike in cases has peaked. As of yesterday, that wasn’t the case.
There are 92 zip codes in South Florida which are hotspots including 19 in Palm Beach County, 25 in Broward, and 48 in Miami-Dade. Hospitalization rates remain at their highest levels of the pandemic with 78% utilization statewide and 81% in the TriCounty area. The overall positive test rate continues to rise in Florida, though the positive test rate is now called into question after it was revealed that certain medical labs in Florida have only reported the positive results while omitting negative tests. It’s currently unclear what the extent of the impact is on the state’s current overall numbers and if those labs have since reported all negative cases as well. After reaching a low of 5.2% in early June, the rate since testing began has risen to 11%, which includes testing at greater than 10% positive, the target rate, each day since June 22nd.
We’re seeing the spike in cases coming from both an increase in testing and predominantly from increased community spread. This reinforces the importance of using proper safety measures like wearing masks in public and socially distancing.
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