According to this morning’s data dump (unadjusted for vagaries in reporting), 63 patients with COVID-19 were admitted to Virginia hospitals yesterday while 62 were discharged. Meanwhile the number of patients in ICUs and on ventilators continued their long-term decline — further evidence that Governor Ralph Northam did the right thing yesterday when he announced that he would not extend the ban on elective procedures.
Total COVID-19 patients hospitalized — 1,566, down 16
COVID patients in ICUs — 372, down 15
COVID patients on ventilators — 208, down 14
Number of hospitals experiencing difficulty replenishing PPEs — 2
In other newsworthy developments, the number of test results reported reached 5,536 yesterday, a record number for Virginia and halfway to the Governor’s 10,000-test benchmark Virginia must meet before he begins reversing other emergency shutdown measures. Among the five criteria listed in the Governor’s Blueprint for easing public health restrictions is that the percentage of positive tests must show a downward trend over 14 days. It’s not clear, however, what that means.
If the criteria is interpreted to mean a downward trend over 14 consecutive days, it will be impossible to meet. The percentage is highly volatile, fluctuating from a recent low of 13.9% three days ago to a high of 39.5% nine days ago. We’ll never see 14 consecutive days of lower percentages each day.
Alternatively, if we interpret the criteria to mean a lower percentage at the end of the 14-day period than the beginning of the 14-day period, then we met it today it today — 16.0% positive versus versus 16.9% on April 17. I doubt that’s what the Governor is thinking. What is the correction interpretation of this rule? We’ll have to wait and see. Presumably, the Governor’s CVOID-19 working group will think this through.
Here’s John Butcher’s presentation of the total hospitalized cases:
— JAB
