July 12, 2020 - DisneyWorld
DisneyWorld
July 12, 2020
It is a cosmic irony that, on the day which is sandwiched between the phased reopenings of Disney World’s Magic Kingdom and Epcot, the State of Florida added 15,300 cases of COVID-19 to its overstressed health care system. It is a number that dwarfs the prior single-day record for any state - 12,977 - set by California on July 7. To believe that Disney World can safely reopen and operate in the midst of a pandemic is pure fantasy.
Here, in Alabama, there were 1,640 cases, 201 more than yesterday. But, the question that is on everyone’s mind is, how did the cumulative hospitalizations magically double overnight? On Friday, according to the ADPH dashboard, the number stood at 3,089; by Saturday, it had soared to 6,745. Before giving you ADPH’s version of what happened, it is important to note that this does not mean there are over 6,700 patients currently in Alabama’s hospitals. “Cumulative hospitalizations” is a number that tracks the total hospitalized patients since the beginning of the pandemic; in other words, it is a compilation over time rather than a snapshot of today..
So, what happened to make the cumulative totals double overnight? According to a news release, ADPH blamed it on an “upgrade” in its technology. Before Saturday, the cumulative number was derived from “case investigations” entered into ADPH’s surveillance system. From now on, such data will be reported to ADPH via a computer software system that allows ADPH to monitor hospital data in times of emergency. In plain English, this means the data will supposedly become more accurate and timely because it will skip an intermediate step. What will not change is that data will continue to be voluntarily reported by the State’s 92 acute care hospitals and specialty hospitals. This new computer system presumably will make it less burdensome on hospitals to submit the reports.
ADPH did not attempt to explain why the old reporting system caused the official number of hospitalizations to be understated by as much as 50%. The news release simply stated, “ ... because of this upgrade, the number of hospitalizations will appear to be higher than previously reported”.
Despite this “upgrade”, as of 6:45 pm on Sunday, the hospitalization data for today is still not available on the ADPH dashboard. However, the all-important 7-day average positivity rate is known and it is not pretty - 15.39%, an increase from 14.95% yesterday. That only confirms what we already know - this contagion is continuing to spread within our borders. Stay safe, everyone … and wear a mask!
Here are the 14-day totals:
6/29 - 1,047
6/30 - 870
7/1 - 917
7/2 - 1,162
7/3 - 1,754
7/4 - 997
7/5 - 1,091
7/6 - 925
7/7 - 907
7/8 - 1,110
7/9 - 2,212
7/10 - 1,334
7/11 - 1,402
7/12 - 1,640
Jefferson (313), Madison (150), Mobile (149) and Montgomery (117) are the only counties with more than 100 cases.