Is a national COVID-19 strategy still possible?
One leading expert says yes, while hospitalizations, deaths and new infections keep rising. Treatment progress keeps mortality rate down but the numbers of new cases strain hospitals.
Today’s top stories are below, but first, I need to ask for a favor: I need 15 more subscribers by the end of the week. Can you help? Please share this with friends or colleagues who may find it useful. If you have ideas on how to improve this, send those comments to me, too. Thank you!
Florida COVID-19 deaths have steadily increased since Memorial Day, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center:
Top stories for Tuesday, July 28, 2020:
Florida now sees a surge in deaths. As predicted, the increasing number of new cases observed in the previous weeks now results in new record numbers of deaths. The state reported 191 deaths in its Tuesday report, more deaths in one day since the pandemic began. However, the number of new cases appears to be starting to taper or decline slightly.
At least 17 physicians and one staff member of the University of Florida Health System tested positive for COVID-19 after attending a private party in early July, according to a report by a news service of the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications.
Baylor College of Medicine infectious disease expert Peter Hotez published a plan he says could get the entire USA open safely by October 1. The plan includes aggressive stay-at-home orders in any state with more than 1 new case per million residents per day or another nationally set standard. Masks and social distancing would be required to continue. With this national approach, “Starting October 1, we could begin a national re-opening for schools, colleges, and even outdoor high school (‘Friday Night Lights’), collegiate and professional sports,” Hotez writes in the journal Microbes and Infection.
That’s it for today. Got questions or suggestions? Please send them or leave comments here. And thank you for sharing this daily rundown with others and encouraging them to subscribe.