Amen @privatebanker, Amen. I am starting to get the feeling the world is dividing between those who have read “Animal Farm” and those who haven’t.
Florida added 4,049 new coronavirus cases in one day, breaking the previous record for most single-day cases set yesterday. The state is now approaching 94,000 infections since the first recorded case in March. 28 percent of the cases have come in the past 10 days.
Since it is about the same size as NYS, I wouldn’t be surprised if it eventually reaches the same infection rate of 400k cumulative.
Florida has been breaking records for one day totals for several days now.
I am glad the federal government is trying to balance the health aspects of this virus with the economic impact.
We could certainly be worse off right now in either aspect.
Maryland’s numbers from the last 24 hours. Positivity rate down 0 22%. Hospitalizations down another 4 people. Our last holdout, Baltimore City, decided to open to our phase 2 yesterday. The rest of he state has been there. Baltimore cities numbers are just as good as the state average so I’m not sure why they felt the need to delay. Their businesses were certainly needing the opening.
Remember when it was no big deal in Florida and they did everything right, especially compared to the Northeastern states? Pepperidge Farms remembers.
I like cookies, too, @emilybee, but I do not understand your comment at all. Florida has had about 3k deaths. Similarly sized states have had about 25k. If we are to limit deaths in the future, it would be best to deal with the reality that something in Florida is curtailing the death rate, and apply that to future situations in the interest of public health. Your Milano may vary, of course.
I hope the death rate everywhere will be less than it was in New York. We understand much more about effective ways to treat people and the importance of safeguarding health care workers than we did back then.
Now who could have predicted this?
And so much for a rebound in the economy.
It is going to get much worse as even with opening up, no one is going to go out. Just like what happened before everything shut down the first time. The people were already one step ahead of the policy makers.
‘W.H.O. Warns of ‘Dangerous Phase’ of Pandemic as Outbreaks Widen’
“Coronavirus cases spiked sharply across the American South and West, particularly in states that loosened restrictions on businesses several weeks ago.”
“In Florida, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Arizona, daily counts of new coronavirus cases reached their highest levels of the pandemic this week. Texas, which has seen known cases double in the past month, became the sixth state to surpass 100,000 cases, according to a New York Times database of cases in the United States.”
“Around the country, there were indications that major companies and sports teams were changing their own plans as the new surges emerged.”
“Apple said it was temporarily closing 11 retail stores across four states amid an uptick in cases. AMC Entertainment reversed course on its mask policy on Friday, saying it will now require patrons to wear face coverings when movie theaters reopen next month.”
“Two Major League Baseball clubs, the Philadelphia Phillies and the Toronto Blue Jays, and a professional hockey team, the Tampa Bay Lightning, abruptly shut down training facilities in Florida over concerns that the virus was threatening players’ safety.”
“Cases have continued to surge across much of the United States, with new single-day infection records reported in nine states. More widespread testing is no doubt playing some role in the increase in the number of known cases. But growing hospitalizations and rising rates of positive tests compared with total tests in many of those states make clear that the virus is raging uncontrolled across much of the Sun Belt.”
“In Arizona and Texas, more people with the coronavirus are hospitalized now than at any previous point in the pandemic. In Utah, the percent of positive tests compared with total tests reached the highest levels yet this month. In Nevada, the percent of positive tests recently began increasing again after more than a month of sustained declines.”
So far, what Florida has done is curtail infections, which is excellent, and what every state should do. The recent rise in identified cases in Florida suggests that this might be fraying.
Florida has managed to limit outbreaks in long term care facilities so far. This is excellent!
I read today that not only are Florida’s cases skyrocketing, but their positivity is also skyrocketing. If so, that’s very alarming.
Should Florida have a big outbreak, I would expect (and hope!) that their death rate would be less than New York’s and New Jersey’s. We know better now how to treat the disease. Moreover, if Florida continues to keep hospitals from being overwhelmed, that too reduces the death rate, since overwhelmed hospitals can’t take care of patients as well.
@roycroftmom, what in your view has Florida done that other states should emulate?
Actually since Maryland has been opening many people are out and about. Shopping, eating outside and inside, going to barbers, malls, gyms, etc. It’s been a godsend for the economy.
Sure, many are choosing to stay in but many are going out and patronizing these businesses.
So much for sports returning.
‘Worries over pro and college sports grow with new diagnoses and facility closings.’
“A number of new cases of the coronavirus among professional and college athletes have added to concerns about competitive sports.”
“On Friday, days after the PGA Tour restarted, the golfer Nick Watney withdrew from the RBC Heritage tournament in South Carolina after testing positive for the coronavirus.”
“Clemson University also confirmed on Friday that 28 people had tested positive across its athletics department, including 23 football team members.“
“Sports leagues across the country have already been wrestling with stubborn questions about how and when to resume games and practices without putting players at risk.
Two Major League Baseball clubs, the Philadelphia Phillies and the Toronto Blue Jays, and a professional hockey team, the Tampa Bay Lightning, had said they would shut down their training facilities in Florida this week, after several players and staff members tested positive. Major League Baseball is now planning to temporarily close all spring training sites in Florida and Arizona for deep cleaning and will require players and staff members to be tested before they can re-enter the sites.”
“The Phillies said in a statement Friday that five players and three staff members working at the club’s facility in Clearwater had tested positive for the virus. The club said eight staff members tested negative and more than 30 others were awaiting results.”
And therein lies the problem. If we want to return the economy to a pre-covid state, we can’t have many people staying in. The people who are going out may be spending as much as they always did, but the people who are staying in are not spending as much as they always did. If we want an economic rebound, we need everybody. Everybody has to feel safe.
Right now and for the past 6 months if I could be anywhere on the planet I wish I were in New Zealand - with my family, of course.
It doesn’t take a dictatorship (or similar) to get things right. It just took science coupled with common sense and a “we’re all in it together” sense of camaraderie. Having it all on a couple of islands undoubtedly helped.
Other South Pacific Islands did well too - Fiji, Vanuatu, etc.
I love that sort of island camaraderie. I detest us vs them “in your face” attitudes and polarization whether that is between states, neighbors, or the country.
It’s not just repressive regimes.
Yes. An island nation with a tiny population. Limited mobility and international travel. It’s just not the same thing. Many small and isolated nations, relatively speaking, have done well.
Although the New Zealand destination as a beautiful place to be in general I am 100 percent on board.
To answer your question, I have no idea, @Cardinal Fang, I would expect public health experts to study that and draw conclusions, not me.
You’re confusing or conflating poor leaderships with democratic societies. The two are completely separate. Democratic societies aren’t immune to bad leaderships. The Economist isn’t a left-wing partisan media outlet by any measure, unlike some of your favorite media outlets.
@MarylandJOE wrote:
I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. The US is less than 5% of the world’s population and we have more than 26% of the Covid-19 deaths - so far. Yes, things could certainly be worse, but they could also be much, much better!
Remember when we were talking about racial discrepansies in cases and deaths and how they are a sign of things being wrong? Well that is true for nations as well.