I'm going to try to reduce getting into back and forth, and just post some general thoughts at a time.
First, why do I keep referring to the hospitalization rate? I think my rationale for using it has been misunderstood. It's not because of concern that hospitals are going to run out of bed space.
The reason I use the hospitalization charts is because they are the most reliable way to track the progress of the virus in different locations. They are a consistent measure of the number of "serious" infections -- serious enough to warrant hospitalization.
Total case counts? Extremely unreliable for comparing different points in time, since we are only identifying a portion of the real cases. We were missing far more cases in April than we are missing now. So while there are far more reported cases now than in April, that doesn't mean there are actually more total cases.
Death counts? Extreme lag. Deaths may not occur until weeks or even months after infection, and may not get reported for weeks or months more. Additionally, most of the evidence suggests deaths are very undercounted. And as some people will tell you, they believe deaths may be overcounted in some cases.
Positivity rate? Really really imprecise, very impacted by the population being tested at any given time. If on Day 1, you test 100 symptomatic people and get 25 infections, that's a 25% positivity rate. If on Day 2, you test another 100 symptomatic people, and get 30 infections, but you add a testing center that tests 100 asymptomatic people and that group only has 4 infections... Then the positivity rate dropped from 25% to 17%.... but the infection is actually getting worse. So high positivity rate with increasing testing is a very bad sign, but it's a very very imprecise tool for judging day to day changes.
But hospitalizations is a pretty consistent measure of how many serious infections are in a location at any given time. If cases are increasing purely due to increased testing, with more minor cases being detected, then hospitalizations will not rise. Unlike deaths, hospitalizations are reported with far less lag. (though still some lag from time of infection to hospitalization). So rising hospitalizations is the most reliable indicator of things getting "worse."
So where do we stand now in Florida?
Florida hit another new high in hospitalizations yesterday. Data is only available since July 10th, but since July 10th, in just 3 weeks, the number of hospitalizations has jumped from 6,974 to 9,520. 37% increase in 3 weeks.
That's bad.
The better news -- the total number of cases appears to be leveling off. If true, we would expect to start seeing the number of hospitalizations level off soon.
So how does this impact the discussion of whether Disney World should be open?
Let's be clear -- There are lots of behaviors that can bring down the viral spread. Even with theme parks open, enough other mitigation efforts can eventually bring down the viral spread. People voluntarily wearing masks, washing their hands, social distancing, avoiding gatherings -- those things will gradually bring down the numbers, regardless of whether Disney World or restaurants are open.
I expect the "truthers" and "hoaxers" to say, "the numbers are leveled off... see, we didn't need to close theme parks." Or the numbers will slowly drop over the next 30-60 days, and then they will proudly proclaim "success without closing the theme parks."
Such arguments are deeply flawed. Slowly containing the spread while thousands of people die is not a "success" if the spread could have been contained faster, with fewer deaths.
Point is that some painful short/medium term remedial measures will save lives... and will more quickly get us back to normal. More quickly allow Disney World to increase capacity.
Which would be better? A "hard" lockdown for 6 weeks, with very few deaths, followed by 90% normalcy. Or, lots of "soft measures" on an ongoing basis, with lots of deaths, and only 50% normalcy for a whole year?
Anyway...... sometimes I hate being right. Yesterday morning, I said the US would very soon be back to 1,000+ deaths per day. Well, yesterday 1,122 deaths in the US. In Florida, deaths continue to rise significantly -- Couple weeks ago, I said Florida would soon be at 100+ deaths daily... another 139 reported today. I suspect Florida will continue to rise, but I hope it stays under 200 per day.
A hard core lock down would get Florida under control quickly. Instead though, I suspect we will see a long and slow decline.