Coronavirus update – May 26th
Bottom Line: This daily update is designed to put everything in perspective with straight-forward facts. No hyperbole, no misinformation, no nonsense.Coming out of Memorial Day weekend, we’re on the precipice of a number that’ll make headlines into tomorrow, 100,000. Unfortunately, today will be the day the United States will incur the 100,000th death associated to COVID-19 since March 1st. For as much progress as we’ve made as a country, it serves as a reminder of the seriousness of this virus. The worst flu season on record, according to CDC records, resulted in 80,000 deaths. We’ve already eclipsed that total making COVID-19 the deadliest virus in the United States since the 1918 pandemic which killed an estimated 500,000 people. Outside of the US, Brazil and Russia remain the hotspots with Brazil having surged into 2nd in overall cases worldwide. This led to the Trump administration freezing travel from Brazil into the US.
Here’s where we stand as of now...
Worldwide:
- 5,601,281 – 348,124 deaths – 2,381,251 recovered
Nationally:
- 1,706,226 cases – 99,805 deaths – 464,670 recovered
Florida:
- 51,746 cases – 2,252 deaths
In Florida, the news wasn’t the best over the weekend... With all of Florida in some phase of reopening we’ve experienced an increase of around 14%in new diagnosed cases. Testing has continued to increase statewide, which is a contributing factor, still several hundred Floridians are being diagnosed with the virus for the first time daily. The better news is that on balance Florida continues to outperform the country as a whole.We’re the third most populous state but just 9th in total cases and 11th in deaths. Florida’s performing far better than most states on a relative basis. We’ve also tested more aggressively than most states, with only New York having tested more than Florida. More than half of all of Florida’s cases remain in the tri-county area with Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach having the most cases in the state in that order.
The overall positive test rate in Florida dropped to another new low of 5.7% over the weekend. That's down from the peak of 11%. As a reminder, the newest diagnosed cases are new cases obtained through community spread. This reinforces the importance of adhering to the warnings of public officials including social distancing and wearing masks in public. The average age of someone diagnosed with COVID-19 in Florida is 54.