Governor-elect Ron DeSantis, R-Fla., joins President Donald J. Trump and Vice President Mike Pence, in the Cabinet Room of the White House Thursday, Dec. 13, 2018, during a discussion with Governors-Elect from around the nation. (Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead)
At The American Spectator, Robert Stacy McCain explains the good news on Florida’s coronavirus situation. He notes that the media has so far ignored the improvements in the state. Florida hit a peak in new cases and has seen a decline in case numbers of about 20% since then. He writes (abridged):
Less than two weeks ago, the number of new coronavirus cases reported in Florida hit a one-day peak, a key metric that has since declined by about 20 percent.
The third-most-populous state in America has reported a cumulative total of about 21,000 cases of COVID-19, which means the Sunshine State’s per-capita infection rate is about 90 percent lower than New York’s.
For the five-day work week from Monday, April 6, through Friday, April 10 (weekend reporting is sometimes erratic), Florida reported a total of 5,491 new COVID-19 cases, an average of roughly 1,098 new cases daily. The highest single-day total last week (1,194 new cases on April 6) was still significantly below the April 3 peak. The number of new cases reported on Monday (971) was about 12 percent below last week’s average.
This encouraging development has made no headlines in Florida, however, where journalists have ignored the downward trend in new cases and instead have focused on the cumulative total of cases (which increases every day by a simple process of addition) and the daily death toll.
The Miami Herald headline Tuesday was “Florida has deadliest day with 72 COVID-19 deaths, 34 in Miami-Dade, surpasses 21,500 cases,” while the Orlando Sentinel headline was “
State adds 72 deaths, making it deadliest day of outbreak; 5 more deaths in Orange County.”
The media have demonized DeSantis, a Republican ally of President Trump, for his reluctance to impose a statewide lockdown, and the IHME forecast of a May 7 “peak” would seem to require an extension of the lockdown. The day-by-day trend in case numbers, however, contradicts the IHME projection.
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