Coronavirus update – April 10th
Bottom Line: This daily update is designed to put everything in perspective with straight-forward facts. No hyperbole, no misinformation, no nonsense. On Thursday CDC data confirmed COVID-19 has become the leading cause of death in the United States. A week ago, COVID-19 was the third leading killer. COVID-19 is currently responsible for about two-hundred more daily deaths than heart disease and three hundred more than all cancers. A new CDC study also confirmed that children are less likely to be severely impacted by the virus, while also shedding light on how many children are severely impacted. In the study of 150,000 COVID-19 patients in the United States, 33% of adults (across all ages) contracting the virus required hospitalization compared to 20% of children. This illustrates the threat the virus poses to people of all ages.
We’re now under a week from the projected national peak in cases, which is expected to be next Thursday, though Dr. Fauci has stated it’s possible we begin to turn the corner as early as this weekend. Given that Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams had prepared us for potentially the worst week of our lives – the start of it could have been worse.
Here’s where we now stand in Florida:
- 16,826 cases – 371 deaths (specific Florida recoveries aren’t disclosed)
Nationally:
- 468,895 cases – 16,697 deaths – 25,928 recovered
Worldwide:
- 1,521,030 – 88,565 deaths – 331,132 recovered
We experienced more than 86k additional cases worldwide Wednesday, with 33k new cases in the US and 1,900 deaths - near identical totals to the prior day adding to optimism that we’re at or the near peak of cases in the United States. Still, the most disconcerting aspect of the virus remains the death/recovery rate based on closed cases. With greater than 450,000 closed cases, the death rate remained at 21% for a fifth consecutive day. This after having reached a low of 6% about a month ago. We’ve seen the death rate rise as the reach of the virus grows. The common pattern with the virus spreading is an increase in death rates with vulnerable early on, followed by improving rates overtime as people begin to recover. The traditional flu season generally ends in April – let’s hope it takes COVID-19 down with it.