Coronavirus update – July 24th
Bottom Line: This daily update is designed to put everything in perspective with straight-forward facts. No hyperbole, no misinformation, no nonsense. Thursday brought about better news across the country and in Florida. The United States has seen a steady decline in the weekly average of new cases since Sunday and for Florida, we’ve now had a full week of declines in average daily cases reported. What we’re starting to see, as the US is improving, is that the rest of the world once again appears to be having a harder time containing the virus than the United States. The trend in daily deaths is still rising stateside but that’s to be expected given last week’s peak in cases. If we continue to improve on the progress from this week, those numbers will begin to decline next week. For those most negatively impacted by the virus, days 7-10 are the most critical.
Here’s where we stand as of now...
Worldwide:
- 15,660,556 – 636,633 deaths – 9,546,400 recovered
Nationally:
- 4,169,991 cases – 147,333 deaths – 1,979,617 recovered
Florida:
- 389,868 cases – 5,520 deaths - 39,951 recovered
In Florida, despite cases topping 10,000 once again yesterday, the total was over 3,700 fewer than Thursday of last week and the total average of daily cases has been 1,200+ fewer daily this week than last. The improved seven-day trend in cases remains intact. Headlines centered around it being the deadliest day yet of the pandemic in Florida with 173 diagnosed cases reported, but again, it’s to be expected given last week’s peak in our state. This will almost certainly improve as we head towards next week. South Florida remains the epicenter of the pandemic in Florida. There are 143 zip codes in South Florida which are hotspots including 27 in Palm Beach County, 46 in Broward and 70 in Miami-Dade. Hospitalization rates remain at their highest levels of the pandemic.
The overall positive test rate continues to rise in Florida, though the positive test rate remains questionable after it was revealed that certain medical labs in Florida only reported the positive results starting around July 4th. 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 12.1% - including testing at greater than 10% positive, the target rate, each day since June 22nd. The average age of someone diagnosed with the virus in Florida remains 40. While more Floridians have been diagnosed between the ages of 25-34 than any other ten-year window, the recent increase in average age demonstrates spread from younger adults to older adults most recently. This 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. The closed case death rate for those diagnosed with the virus remains at 6% worldwide - which is the lowest since March 11th and equals the lowest rate during the pandemic. The rate currently sits at 7% in the US, which is the lowest yet, and appears likely to continue to fall. The increase in testing combined with improved treatment options for those critically ill, is clearly making a positive difference. With over 147,000 deaths attributed to COVID-19, it is the deadliest virus in the United States since the 1918 pandemic which killed over 675,000 Americans.