Disasters in Slow Motion (pt. 23) - Oct 7, 2020

Facebook has announced that they are ending support for the Notes feature after Oct. 31st. I am uncertain how I will best continue this series after that, but will explore alternatives. The notes feature is one of the last things that has been keeping me active on Facebook so....

October 07, 2020 (16:06 GMT) - Actual Numbers vs. September 27 (01:51 GMT)
Worldwide Cases: 36,164,425 (+3,111,281)
Worldwide Deaths: 1,056,492 (+57,776)
Worldwide Mortality Rate: 2.92% (-0.10%)
Worldwide Mortality Rate (without US): 2.95% (-0.11%)
US Cases: 7,734,213 (+446,652)
US Deaths: 216,106 (+6,929)
US Mortality Rate: 2.79% (-0.08%)
US Total Recovered: 4,952,216 (+428,108)
US Total Recovered (including Deaths): 5,168,322 (+435,037)
Florida/Collier Cases: 720,125 (+21,289) / 12,961 (+305)
Florida/Collier Deaths: 14,791 (+768) / 288 (+72)
Florida/Collier Mortality Rate: 2.05% (+.05%) / 2.22% (+0.52%)
Florida Total Recovered: 398,102 (+121,127)

Florida Cases/Recoveries (including deaths)
April 14 (23:59 GMT): 21,628 / 1,215 - Starting Numbers
May 1: Phase 1 Begins
May 02 (23:06 GMT): 35,463 (+13,583) / 2,050 (+835)
July 9 (11:00 GMT): 223,783 (188,320) / 34,080 (+22.030)
July 12 (14:35 GMT): 254,511 (+30,728) / 36,267 (+2,817)
July 19 (20:02 GMT): 350,047 (+95,536) / 42,395 (+6,128)
August 4 (16:53 GMT): 497,330 (+147,283) / 50,302 (+12,907)
August 31 (17:26 GMT): 623,471 (+126,141) / 90,018 (+39,716)
September 7 (02:17 GMT): 646,431 (+22,960) / 111,544 (+21,526)
September 14: Phase 2 Begins
September 17 (21:38 GMT): 674,456 (+28,025) / 186,943 (+75,399)
September 26: Phase 3 Begins
September 27 (01:51 GMT): 698,836 (+24,226) / 290,988 (+104,055)
October 07, 2020 (16:06 GMT): 720,125 (+21,289) / 398,102 (+121,127)

Alright, so as we can see, Florida cases continue to drop at a rate higher than that of new cases. This is a good thing. Sadly, Collier County doesn’t list recoveries (other than deaths), so I’ve no way of knowing how Collier County is doing individually. We do know that the mortality rate in Collier County is .17% higher than the Florida average and shot up by over half a percentage point (which is a pretty big deal). Granted, the Florida mortality rate is going up as well, but not nearly as fast - although both are still below the national average.

Statewide, phase 3 still seems to be working. An increase in mortality looks to be more of a focusing of the curve than anything else. Florida is still doing well...but we will see what happens when the snowbirds start arriving in force.

In other news, impeached President Trump was hospitalized for Covid-19, 27 members of his inner circle tested positive, and Trump showed up late to the Presidential debate so as to not be tested since he was positive at that time. This should terrify any rational person.

• The President of the United States was exposed to Covid-19 - likely due to his refusal to wear a mask.
• He continued to hold rallies and attend meetings, aiding in the spread of Covid-19 through the White House and into the upper levels of US military command.
• Details on Trump’s condition are all VERY sketchy with the White House physician saying one thing, and medical experts saying another. Nobody seems able to agree if Trump is still symptomatic or not, but Trump returned to the White House and IMMEDIATELY removed his mask so....

The White House is already preparing to sell a $100, “Trump defeats Covid” coin. Not “Trump survives” mind you, but the misleading claim that he has defeated it, which plays further into the Covid-19 has been defeated narrative. It hasn’t been. Admittedly, it looks like the US is closing in on turning for the better, with new cases versus new recoveries (including deaths) being relatively close with a difference of only 11,615 cases. While sad that things aren’t under control yet, we are getting close.

I suppose we will see where we are in another week.