An update on COVID complications

The Miami Herald today reported seven consecutive days of more than 12,000 new coronavirus infections statewide in Florida. Tuesday's total was 16,038, the Herald said, citing data provided by the state to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"The last time Florida had such high numbers of COVID cases was on Jan. 7, when the state recorded 19,816 new cases, its highest single-day number of COVID cases," the Herald feature said.

Tuesday's statewide total alone represented 20 percent of new cases in the United States. There were 92 Florida fatalities attributed to the coronavirus reported to the CDC that day.

Florida's rate of new COVID infections was 17.21 percent on Monday, July 26, up from 16.79 percent a day earlier, the Herald report said.

"What concerns me the most about Florida is that cases are rising at an alarming rate, hospitalizations are going up, and deaths are going up, and it's being driven by the Delta variant," U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said.

In Broward County - home of AMO headquarters in Dania Beach - the seven-day average caseload was 6,055 as of Tuesday, and the positivity rate was 15.03 percent. In neighboring Miami-Dade County to the South and Palm Beach County to the North, this rate was 12.74 percent and 16.4 percent, respectively.

These numbers support the decision of the AMO Executive Board to cancel the official monthly AMO membership meeting on Monday, August 2.

Paul Doell
July 29, 2021