Coronavirus update – April 15th
Bottom Line: This daily update is designed to put everything in perspective with straight-forward facts. No hyperbole, no misinformation, no nonsense. While the news of potential peak/flattening of the curve as early as this week continues to bring more optimism to the conversation - Tuesday brought the reality that we aren’t there yet. We crossed the 2 million case mark world-wide and it was the highest day for new diagnosed cases and deaths since the pandemic began. Meanwhile, President Trump indicated the United States will halt funding to the World Health Organization after Taiwan produced evidence the WHO ignored their warnings and request for additional information about the coronavirus in December. Also, a Harvard Study suggested social distancing and related changes we’ve made in society since the outbreak began, may be needed to from time to time for the next two years. Harvard’s research suggests COVID-19 will have a seasonal component to it – similar to flu season.
Here’s where we stand.
Worldwide:
- 2,004,383 – 126,811 deaths – 485,303 recovered
Nationally:
- 587,173 cases – 23,644 deaths – 36,948 recovered
Here’s where we now stand in Florida:
- 21,019 cases – 499 deaths (specific Florida recoveries aren’t disclosed)
We experienced more than 75,000 additional diagnosed cases and over 7,000 deaths worldwide Monday. Both new highs within a day. In the United States, we had over 27,000 new cases and greater than 2,400 deaths - making Tuesday the deadliest day for the virus in the US as well. The most disconcerting aspect of the virus remains the death/recovery rate based on closed cases. With greater than 612,000 closed cases, the death rate remained at 21% for a tenth consecutive day. This after having reached a low of 6%in early March. 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.