Coronavirus Outbreak – It's a Somber Day in New York; Death Toll Reaches 30K

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It's another day of mourning for New Yorkers. Today (6/2), they are staring at another horrific milestone in the making: The death toll from the Coronavirus outbreak reaches 30K. While New York was the epicenter of this outbreak for almost six weeks, spanning between 3/20 and 5/10, its residual but waning effect (e.g., on average 100 daily deaths) is still being felt.

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Highlights...

1. Thus far, out of the nationwide death toll of 108K, New York has the lion's share at 30K (28%), followed by New Jersey at 11.8K (11%) and Massachusetts at 7K (6.6%). New York's death rate at 8% is well above the national rate at 5.7%, but below those of Michigan (9.6%) and Connecticut (9.2%).

2. One of the reasons the tri-states of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut have been terribly impacted is the high positivity rate. While New Jersey has the highest positivity rate at 20%, New York and Connecticut have also logged high rates at 18% and 16%, respectively. Obviously, New York also has the highest per capita death rate in the nation at 1,546, nearly five times the national average.   

3. As the outbreak started taking over New York, the public health authorities managed to significantly intensify the testing efforts, thus getting to the symptomatic population faster to save lives. New York now boasts the highest testing credentials at 2.2M, with an impressive per capita rate at 111K. Despite the rapid taper in May, New York still continues to struggle with a high active rate at 75%.

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4. Though the world continued to hear that the epicenter was the state of New York, the facts are quite different. The actual epicenter was the downstate part of New York comprising New York City (5 counties), Long Island (2 counties) and Westchester. Kings (Brooklyn) and Queens Counties thus far have registered the highest death tolls at 6,754 and 6,274, respectively, followed by Bronx and Manhattan at 4,482 and 2,929, respectively. New York City has also recorded the highest death rates in the state.

5. Another malady that has severely impacted downstate New York is the high positivity rate. Depending on the county, the rate varied between 21% and 24%; only Manhattan has managed to record a lower rate at 16%. These high rates, collectively, have pulled the statewide average up as well.

Again, it's a somber day in New York. The people around the world need to offer a silent prayer so these departed souls can rest in peace. They didn't deserve to die.  

Stay safe!

Data Source: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/

-Sid Som
homequant@gmail.com