COVID Quick Numbers:
- 103,022 new cases reported last week across Florida
- 195 COVID fatalities last week in Florida
The current COVID news remains great. The number of new cases continues to drop. However, the better news was seeing the number of fatalities related to COVID drop last week from 210 cases two weeks ago to 195 cases last week. Hopefully, these numbers will continue to drop further.
We asked last week, is this the end of COVID or will we see another summer surge. Over the last two years we’ve had a summer surge and a winter surge. The winter surge is over and fortunately it has been very mild.
I suspect we’re going to get some kind of summer surge. Hopefully, the surge will be even milder than the OMICRON variant.
COVID-19 RISK FACTORS
The Case Fatality Rate has always been high for seniors since the very beginning of this pandemic. Just for yucks, I pulled a chart that I published back in 2020 which was sourced by the data website WorldoMeter.info.
| AGE | DEATH RATE* | SURVIVAL RATE |
| 80+ years old | 14.80% | 85.20% |
| 70-79 years old | 8.00% | 92.00% |
| 60-69 years old | 3.60% | 96.40% |
| 50-59 years old | 1.30% | 98.70% |
| 40-49 years old | 0.40% | 99.60% |
| 30-39 years old | 0.20% | 99.80% |
| 20-29 years old | 0.20% | 99.80% |
| 10-19 years old | 0.20% | 99.80% |
| 0-9 years old | no fatalities | no fatalities |
| Source: WorldoMeter.info |
From the very beginning we knew this was a very low risk to children. At the time, WorldoMeter was reporting no COVID fatalities for children under 10. it also reported a very low risk factor for teenagers. Two years later, Florida has reported 40 deaths for children under 16 years of age. That’s 20 children per year. And unfortunately all of them were cases of an underlying comorbidity. Put it another way, more kids die of the regular flu each year than from COVID.
The good news we see in these numbers has been the improved survivability by seniors 65 and older. As you can see the Case Fatality Rate has now dropped below 7%. This is in part due to the COVID shot that doesn’t necessarily stop you from getting or spreading the virus, but does help prevent fatal complications from COVID. Plus, the current strain has been much milder yielding less complications and less fatalities. This is also boosting natural immunity. The combination of all these things is helping to to improve the survivability numbers we see below.
Folks, COVID-19, much like influenza, is here to stay. If you haven’t already had COVID, you need to prepare your body’s immune system to handle COVID. That includes a COVID shot, but also dieting and exercise.
God bless you all and stay safe and healthy.
