Coronavirus update – April 16th
Bottom Line: This daily update is designed to put everything in perspective with straight-forward facts. No hyperbole, no misinformation, no nonsense. We entered the week with news of the potential peak/flattening of the curve being possible. Wednesday brought additional optimism that we’re closer to the end of the outbreak than the beginning. President Trump said the United States has “passed the peak” of the outbreak. Today is the day the University of Washington modeling suggested we would beat the peak in the United States, so President Trump’s assessment lines up with recent modeling. Should the prove to be the case it’s likely we’d begin to see aspects of the US economy opened up in May with the potential for life in the new normal by June.
Here’s where we stand.
Worldwide:
- 2,088,240 – 134,720 deaths – 515,854 recovered
Nationally:
- 644,348 cases – 28,554 deaths – 48,708 recovered
Here’s where we now stand in Florida:
- 22,519 cases – 614 deaths (specific Florida recoveries aren’t disclosed)
We experienced nearly 80,000 additional diagnosed cases and over 7,900 deaths worldwide Wednesday. Both new highs within a day for the second consecutive day. In the United States, we had over 30,000 new cases and greater than 5,000 deaths - making Wednesday the deadliest day for the virus in the US as well. This as New York added nearly 3,000 additional deaths attributed to COVID-19 beyond previous reporting. The state said a review of the cause of death revealed those individuals had died from the virus prior to having been tested. The question, to President Trump’s declaration of a potential peak, is if yesterday was as bad as it would become in a single day in this country. Let’s hope so.For the month of April, COVID-19 has been the top cause of death in the United States.
The most disconcerting aspect of the virus remains the death/recovery rate based on closed cases. With greater than 650,000 closed cases, the death rate remained 21%for an eleventh 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.