BUSINESS LAW 101 / Coronavirus by the Numbers

By Albert L. Kelley, P.A.

I have been tracking the Coronavirus numbers since March 1, when Florida had its first two cases.  While Florida is the third largest state by population (behind New York and Texas), it is the ninth state in terms of Coronavirus. Ahead of us are New York, New Jersey, Illinois, Massachusetts, California, Pennsylvania, Michigan and Texas. Within Florida cases, counties range from a low of only one case (Gulf County in the panhandle) to 15,658 (Miami-Dade County).  Monroe is on the low end.  Florida has 67 counties and Monroe County is 44th on the list when it comes to confirmed cases (By contract, Monroe is ranked 37th by population).  The current hotspots are Miami-Dade County, Broward County (6,243) and Palm Beach County (4,524).  

Initially the issue was flattening the curve with the second issue being a steady reduction.  However, there is a statistical difference between the confirmed count and the death count. On the issue of flattening the curve, it looks like that has been accomplished. While a daily count is hard to assess as a daily change can be drastic, if we average out the numbers to a weekly basis we see more of a true picture.  In Florida, the high point was reached during week 5 when we were averaging over a thousand confirmed cases a day.  While that number came down slightly, the change was not statistically significant (roughly 1%).  By week 8 the number had fallen to 763 and the following week it dropped to 653.  Since then it has risen slightly, around 4.5%.  Is this significant? We will have to wait and see.

Florida did not see its first death until March 16, 2020.  The chart of the number of deaths looks to have flattened with around 43 deaths per day.  However, in week 10 the deaths jumped to an average of 50 a day and then fell to 35 a day the following week.  This is likely an adjustment based on reporting, with the truth still being around 43 a day.  

As of this writing, the total number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the World equals the population of New Zealand and in the United States is roughly equal to the population of Hawaii.  The United States has as many confirmed cases as Russia, Spain, the United Kingdom, Brazil, Italy, Germany and Belgium combined.  

In today’s reporting it shows 1,516,343 confirmed cases, 89,932 deaths, and 281,192 recovered cases in the US.  One person asked why there was a discrepancy in the numbers; why the number of deaths and recovered did not equal the total confirmed. The answer is simple: not everyone has recovered yet. It can take weeks to recover from coronavirus.  The recovery time for coronavirus is two to six weeks.  Over the last six weeks there have been 1,183,275 new cases. When you add the number of new cases over the last six weeks to the number of recovered cases and number of deaths, it comes close to the total of confirmed cases. 

Al Kelley is a Florida business law attorney located in Key West and previously taught business law, personnel law, and labor law at St. Leo University.  He is also the author of four law books: (“Basics of Business Law” “Basics of Florida’s Small Claims Court”, “Basics of Florida’s Landlord/Tenant Law” and “Basics of Starting a Florida Business” (Absolutely Amazing e-Books)). This article is being offered as a public service and is not intended to provide specific legal advice.  If you have any questions about legal issues, you should confer with a licensed Florida attorney 

[livemarket market_name="KONK Life LiveMarket" limit=3 category=“” show_signup=0 show_more=0]