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1/ If you're wondering why officials in Pennsylvania are sounding the alarm about the coronavirus again, let's take a spin through our best indicators of spread and see what the charts tell us. The first, and most obvious, is new confirmed cases, which are at all-time highs...
2/ So is this just a Pennsylvania problem, or are our neighbors seeing similar trends? The short answer: We're not alone, because the virus doesn't much care about state borders...
3/ OK sure, cases are rising, but is that because we are doing more testing? No, according to the data. The percent of tests coming back positive has risen sharply. While this can be an imperfect indicator on its own, it tells us we're not just seeing the result of more tests...
4/ But maybe all of this doesn't matter because we're better prepared to deal with the virus and treat people who are sick. For that, we can first look to the number of hospitalizations, which is nearing its all-time high and showing exponential growth...
5/ As hospitalizations rise and cases progress, are more people needing ventilators? This would be somewhat of a lagging indicator, but the answer is yes...
6/ Finally, what are we seeing with the number of deaths? This is the worst and most tragic outcome, and we also know this indicator lags behind cases and hospitalizations. So are we starting to see a rise here as well? Yes.
7/ So what's the takeaway? Every meaningful data indicator we have is telling us this is a serious surge, and so far there are no signs it will relent without people taking action. You can follow all of the data on our coronavirus tracker: https://www.spotlightpa.org/news/2020/03/pa-coronavirus-updates-cases-map-live-tracker/
8/ You can also read the latest from state officials here, via @Jamie_Martines https://www.spotlightpa.org/news/2020/11/pennsylvania-coronavirus-surge-lockdowns-contact-tracing-masks-small-gatherings/
