Coronavirus update – May 19th
Bottom Line: This daily update is designed to put everything in perspective with straight-forward facts. No hyperbole, no misinformation, nononsense. Monday was dominated by the Moderna Therapeutics announcement of a vaccine trial which produced 100% successful results with a 45-person test group and which will move to phase three testing in July. While we wait and hope for success – trends already in motion continued to play out on Monday. This included the continued escalation in cases in Russia, 2nd to the United States in total cases and Brazil which is now 4th worldwide. They remain the world’s new hotspots.
Here’s where we stand as of now...
Worldwide:
- 4,904,566 – 320,326 deaths – 1,916,024 recovered
Nationally:
- 1,550,664 cases – 91,981 deaths – 356,383 recovered
Florida:
- 46,442 cases – 1,997 deaths
In Florida we had 854 new diagnosed cases and 24 deaths recorded Monday. The new case count continues to be closely watched as recent numbers have been on the higher end of the recent trendline and all of Florida will be in reopening mode tomorrow (all counties have reopened, however Hialeah, Miami, Miami Beach and Miami Gardens have held off reopening until tomorrow). The reopening of Broward and Miami-Dade was generally smooth Monday.
Florida remains 9th in the country in total cases and has fallen to 11th in deaths. We’re the third most populous state. Florida’s performing far better than most states on a relative basis. We’ve also tested more aggressively than most states, with only New York having tested more than Florida. More than half of all of Florida’s cases remain in the tri-county area with Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach having the most cases in the state in that order.
The overall positive test rate in Florida dropped to another new low of 6.9%. That's down from the peak of 11%. As a reminder, the newest diagnosed cases are new cases obtained through community spread. This reinforces the importance of adhering to the warnings of public officials including social distancing and wearing masks in public. The average age of someone diagnosed with COVID-19 in Florida is 53.