Coronavirus update – July 17th
Bottom Line: This daily update is designed to put everything in perspective with straight-forward facts. No hyperbole, no misinformation, no nonsense. As the world continues to struggle with a rise in COVID-19 cases, Thursday brought about the highest day of cases yet around the world and in the United States. It also produced the second highest day of new cases in Florida along with it being deadliest yet. The upward trends continue.
Here’s where we stand as of now...
Worldwide:
13,960,499 – 592,977 deaths – 8,293,613 recovered
Nationally:
3,695,302 cases – 141,118 deaths – 1,679,749 recovered
Florida:
315,775 cases – 4,677 deaths - 34,840 recovered
In Florida, with 13,965 new cases, more than Wednesday a week ago, the moving average continued to rise and currently sits just under 12 thousand daily cases over the past week. There were 156 related deaths yesterday and likewise, the moving average sits at a new high of 95 per day. 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.
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 since July 4th, while omitting negative tests. It’s currently unclear what the extent of the impact is on the state’s 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 11.2% - including testing at greater than 10% positive, the target rate, each day since June 22nd. The average age of someone diagnosed with the virus remains 39. We’re seeing the spike in cases coming from both an increase in testing and predominantly from increased community spread. The reinforces the importance of using proper safety measures like wearing masks in public and socially distancing.
Florida is 3rd in total cases, while the state is 8th in deaths. Florida is the third most populous state. Since the onset of the pandemic we've fared in-line with overall cases, while better than average with outcomes. For closed cases around the world, the death rate has been 7% since the onset of the pandemic. In the United States it stands at 8% currently. With over 141,000 deaths attributed to COVID-19, it is the deadliest virus in the United States since the 1918 pandemic which killed over 675,000 Americans.