Coronavirus update – May 21st
Bottom Line: This daily update is designed to put everything in perspective with straight-forward facts. No hyperbole, no misinformation, no nonsense. With all 50 states finally in some phase of reopening the news and trends continued in a positive direction Wednesday across the country and in Florida. Yes, the headlines are about the 5 millionth diagnosed case. Yes, Russia and Brazil are still seeing a rapid increase in new cases but otherwise there’s a lot to feel good about if you view what’s happening in context. We’re now seeing an average of new cases that’s near the average daily case counts in late March. The biggest difference now being testing that is more than double what it was during that time. This is reflected in the positive test rate which continues to hit new lows nationwide.
Here’s where we stand as of now...
Worldwide:
- 5,056,608 – 328,167 deaths –2,006,312 recovered
Nationally:
- 1,586,583 cases – 94,686 deaths – 366,807 recovered
Florida:
- 47,471 cases – 2,096 deaths
In Florida we had 527 new diagnosed cases and 44 deaths recorded Wednesday. The new case count was about even with Tuesday’s number and is lower than the recent trend line. Florida’s peak day for cases was April 17th with greater than 1,400 cases diagnosed that day. 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 6.1%. 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.