Yesterday was a SIX Green Arrow Day.
Weekly Summary for Week Ended June 21, 2020
Good Morning,
Yesterday was a SIX Green Arrow day. This past week was busy as we performed more than 200,000 tests than the prior week and more than 800,000 than the last week of May. There are several reasons for more testing, including becoming a standard protocol for medical procedures, increased capacity, easier accessibility, and quicker test results.
The higher number of tests does account for part of the increase in new cases, but the rate of positive tests has increased as well. This week we will focus on three key strategies to minimize new cases and protect those in the higher-risk categories. Also, keep in mind that new cases are up only in specific geographic areas and not universally around the US.
The good news for the week was a significant drop in fatalities. It was the first week since the beginning that there were not any days over 1,000 deaths, and Sunday was the first with less than 300 since March. This category’s lower rates are essential beyond the obvious. Showing that we can minimize that impact of COVID 19 could shift the conversation considerably.
New Case Rate:
The rate of new cases did jump last week as many states have modified their restrictions. Some states have done well and other are in the learning process.
The next few weeks will shed better light on whether this is an outlier or a trend,
Death Rates:
Fatalities are trending quite favorably as there were 1,003 fewer than the prior week. The continued improvement is encouraging for many reasons.
Negative Test Rates:
The percentage of positive tests was 5.2% last week. It appears that of those that get tested 95 of the tests will be negative. This rate has been rather steady of the last four weeks.
