Let’s start this week off on a possible positive note, instead of the usual doom and gloom numbers most media is portraying concerning COVID-19. With social distancing in full swing for about a month now across the country could we possibly be seeing a positive outcome from this unprecedented steps? New forecasted data coming in from The University of Washington (IHME Model) https://covid19.healthdata.org/ suggests just that. With continued social distancing through May, the U.S deaths are projected to be 12,000 less than they were 4 days ago. Additionally, the hospital bed shortage would be cut by 60% and ventilator shortage by 1/3, according to these new models. However these models are just that, models. Without the continued efforts of the country to continue to practice these steps it wouldn’t change much. However this is a light at the end of the tunnel that steps are working. NY over the weekend had lower positive cases and fewer deaths after peaking at an all time high last week. This being reported for the first time in a while, however 5k less tests were given which could be the blip in numbers there but we will look at it with the analogy of the glass being half full.
As of Saturday, more than 223,000 people worldwide have recovered from Covid-19, according to data from the Johns Hopkins University dashboard. The actual figure is likely to be higher since the data only cover confirmed cases.
A video posted by Dr. Jason Persoff of The UC Health System in Colorado shows his raw emotion last night looking at Colorado’s forecasted numbers after battling this pandemic on the front lines and seeing the worst. What does this mean for Chicago or New Orleans who are projected to peak in the next week for numbers? Only time and hard practices of social distancing and sheltering in place will tell over the next week.
