I have also published an omicron variant post, archived delta variant information, and archived general Covid-19 information.
Beginning in June 2021, Florida removed all archived Covid data from their web site. Once a week, they replace the statistics from the previous week with a new report. That makes it difficult for anyone who has not saved the old data to see the actual numbers of cases and deaths. No hospitalization data is included. On the Florida Department of Health web site, you can locate influenza records from 2001 but not Covid data from February 17, 2022.
FL Covid Deaths:
- As of February 24, 2022, FL has claimed 69,790 cumulative Covid deaths.
- On June 4, 2021, the state removed 744 deaths among non-permanent residents and stopped reporting them.
- Weekly deaths among permanent residents reported by FL decreased by 3% to 888.
- The state is claiming only 13% of them as “New Deaths” (119).
- During June 2021–February 2022, Florida has reported only 6,760 of the 34,589 Covid deaths among permanent residents as “New Deaths” (20%).
- Hillsborough County had 95 deaths, a 217% weekly increase.
- 67% percent of deaths reported in Florida last week were among senior citizens, down from 83% a week earlier.
- FL has 9.2% of US deaths when vaccinations were available to all over 16 (6.6% US population).
- CA has 70% more people than Florida, yet almost the same number of excess deaths.
- Among the 6 largest states, the Florida death rate is below only Pennsylvania’s.
- FL does not report Covid deaths stratified by vaccination status.
FL Covid Vaccinations:
- Florida claims a 74% vaccination rate.
- 60% of permanent Florida residents have at least completed a vaccine series.
- 23% have booster shots, an important precaution against the omicron variant.
- Boosters prevented 94% of omicron hospitalizations among people aged 18–49 and among seniors; 92% for ages 50–64.
- The state does not report cases or deaths by vaccination status.
- On 1-14-22, the governor refused to enforce the federal mandate for healthcare workers upheld by the Supreme Court a day earlier.
- On 1-19-22, the state put Orange County’s epidemiologist on leave for chiding his employees’ 40% vaccination rate.
- On 1-15-22 the governor said many nurses avoid vaccination due to “trying to have families.” Numerous studies confirm vaccination does not cause infertility.
Florida Covid Testing:
- On 1-4-22, FL’s Surgeon General decried “testing psychology” to identify all cases.
- On 1-6-22, FL’s Agriculture Secretary revealed 1,000,000 expired antigen tests.
- On 1-8-22, FL’s web site told those not at high risk of severe cases to avoid testing.
- On 1-9-22, the governor announced 1,000,000 tests for long-term care and nursing homes
- On 2-7-22, the state reprimanded two companies which failed to report 230,000 test results from December and January until that week.
Florida Covid Cases:
- On the February 10th report, Florida reported 5,800,561 cumulative cases among permanent residents.
- On June 4th, the state removed all data from anyone who is not a permanent resident and stopped reporting it. This deleted 43,535 cases.
- 25,640 cases were reported as new, a 40% decrease from the prior week.
- The state over-reported 250 cases, 1% of the total.
- FL began a decline six weeks ago. New cases are 166% higher than in mid-November.
- A 5.6% new case positivity rate means there is likely one unreported case for each 10 positive tests. This was a 32% decrease compared to last week.
- Public health officials recommend maintaining a positivity rate <5% for 2 weeks before reopening
- 4,247 Florida residents under 20 tested positive, a decrease of 45% from last week.
- Adolescents had positivity rates 1% higher than any other demographic group in Florida.
- Reported cases in the Hillsborough County School District fell 65%.
- Florida law prohibits requiring masks in non-medical settings.
- Parents decide about quarantining after a close contact at school.
- On 1-31-22, FL shifted its focus to “high congregate settings,” not schools and day cares.
- During the week leading up to that announcement 38,629 school-aged children in Florida had tested positive.
- On 1-31-22, FL students absent due to Covid exposure are truant per Orange County
Florida Covid Treatment:
- Omicron mutations render ineffective almost all monoclonal antibodies previously in use.
- 100% of FL cases are due to that viral strain; 99.7%, 5 weeks ago; 92%, 7 weeks ago.
- The rate of increase for the BA.2 subvariant is significantly slower than for previous omicron variants. In the past week, BA.2 increased from 1.9% to 4.5% in the region which includes Floridas.
- Sotrovimab works against the omicron BA.1 variant at a dosage 3x more than for delta. It is 27 times less effective for omicron BA.2.
- Seven weeks ago, Florida used 140 of its 4,400 Sotrovimab doses and 2,700 of Regeneron.
- On 1-18-22, FL opened more infusion centers to distribute 15,000 doses of Regeneron.
- The FDA revised its EUA for Regeneron on 1-24-22, prohibiting its use against omicron.
- DeSantis objected to no shipments; all FL antibody infusion centers closed on 1-25-22.
- A new monoclonal antibody called bebtelovimab is effective against omicron BA.2. It began shipping to Florida last week.
- On 1-8-21, the FDA issued an Evusheld EUA for those with severe immunosuppression.
- On 2-25-22, the dosage doubled due to BA.2. Prior recipients need an additional shot.
- People with certain cancers or organ transplants receive the highest priority.
- DeSantis announced it on 12-17-21, when Covid was raging through Miami-Dade County.
- First shipments only to a small private fee-based clinic in Broward County on 12-24-21.
- People flew from out of state to receive it at the iCare Clinic.
- The large transplant hospital in Miami was to receive it four weeks later.
- During Jan 24–30, 2022 the federal government sent 32,000 outpatient treatments.
- Paxlovid prevents 89% of the expected hospitalizations or deaths; Molnupiravir, 30%.
- During Feb 28–March 6, 2022, the federal government is sending enough highly effective doses to treat 10,900 Floridians.
Florida Covid Hospitalizations:
- You won’t find any hospitalization info on Florida’s Weekly Reports since 6-24-21.
- Florida must relay all hospitalization data to the US Dept of Health and Human Services.
- Florida fell from 24th to 26th in rank among states for adults, with a 32% drop in hospitalizations.
- For August 1, 2020– February 24, 2022, 8.9% of all US Covid hospitalizations were in FL (6.6% of US population). That includes over 404,000 people.
- 200% more adults in hospital with Covid on Feb 19th,compared to Dec 3rd.
- For Feb 18–24, 2022, there were 466 admissions/day (3,264), 31% less in a week.
- On February 24th, there were 2.17 new admissions/100,000 Floridians; 3.19 the week before.
- Percentage of people in the hospital who required care in the ICU remained at 19%.
- Hospitalizations declined for every age group, ranging from 18% for ages 30–39 to 49% for ages 18–29.
- On February 24th, there were 2.17 new admissions/100,000 Floridians; 3.19 the week before
- The rank of pediatric hospitalizations fell from 18th to 26th, with a 33% decline.
- 65 children were in Florida hospitals, with a 26% decrease to 46 admissions/day.
- Children had experienced a 203% rise during the last week of December.
- 130% more pediatric hospitalizations than on Dec 3rd.
- One in 10 admissions were for children, up from one in 11 a week ago.
- Compared to delta, omicron admissions are higher for younger than 30 and older than 69.
- On 2-25-22, 81% of hospital beds in Florida were full; 6% used by Covid patients.
- Covid patients accounted for 3,358 of them, 28% fewer patients than a week earlier.
- 9% of ICU beds were used by 562 Covid patients, 24% fewer than the previous week.
- Overall, 77% of ICU beds are occupied in the state, down from 80%.
- 1/3 are admitted for Covid diagnosis; 1/3 for Covid worsening an underlying condition; and one-third for reasons unrelated to their viral infection.
Miami-Dade County:
- In FL’s hardest-hit area during the omicron wave, 4,700 permanent residents tested positive.
- This is a 32% decrease from last week, when there were 4,700; two weeks ago, there were 24,000; three weeks ago, there were 16,000; four weeks ago, there were 23,000; five weeks ago, there were 47,000; six weeks ago, there were 94,000; seven weeks ago, there were 110,000; eight weeks ago, they had 100,000; nine weeks ago, there were 11,500 new cases.
- The positivity rate dropped to 4.6%, so this is likely an accurate number of cases.
- Hospital admissions declined for a fifth week, this time by 25%.
- The number of reports of people who died decreased by 38% to 103.
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Until January 1, 2022, Florida was the only state in the US which was releasing statistics on a weekly basis. Tennessee has now switched to that schedule. Information available in Florida’s reports is far more limited than what the state formerly provided.
Since October 14, 2021, I have made many attempts to access the FL Dept of Health Weekly Report. However, my browser will not download it due to a potential security risk:
TBT: Why Doesn‘t Florida Trust Its Residents with Basic COVID Information?
On October 18th, I followed the Dept of Health’s recommendation to contact their COVID Data Analytics section, then went outside. When I returned, I had to do a major recovery process following an unauthorized attempt to access my hard drive. I still have not received a response from the FL COVID Data Analytics group. Even the main site for the Florida Dept of Health appears on an unsecure connection: www.floridahealth.gov.
Meanwhile faculty at the University of Florida charge that they have felt external pressure from the highest levels of state government to delete data related to their Covid research. They also encountered “barriers to accessing and analyzing” data and “barriers to publication of scientific research which inhibited the ability of faculty to contribute scientific findings during a world-wide pandemic.”
On January 21, 2022, a federal judge sided with the plaintiffs in a 74-page ruling. He asserted the University of Florida was “willing to suffer threats to its accreditation, congressional inquiries, unrelenting bad press, an all-but-certain hit to its rankings, and the substantial monetary cost of hiring an experienced D.C. firm to defend its policy. The only thing UF will not do, it seems, is amend its policy to make clear that it will never consider viewpoint in denying a request to testify.” As in The Emperor’s New Clothes, the emperor’s lords, “fearing the loss of their jobs and the Emperor’s good grace, enabled the charade by praising the Emperor’s fine suit.”
Tampa Bay Times: Federal Judge Orders Injunction to UF’s Conflict of Interest Policy
I’m now accessing the pdf for the weekly summary via Dr. Jason Salemi’s site:
Here is some of the data from February 11–17, 2022:
- New cases = 25,540; Cumulative cases = 5,800,561
- Positivity rate = 5.6%
- New deaths = 119; Cumulative deaths = 69,790
- Vaccination rate = 74%
- Fully vaccinated people minus those with booster shots = 8,232,187
- Total booster doses: 5,033,849
Salemi USF: COVID-19 in Florida
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Florida Covid Vaccinations:
The vaccination rate reported by the state remained at 74%. This figure represents only those eligible for vaccination and includes partially vaccinated people. Florida’s population is currently 21,975,117, so 60% have at least completed a vaccination series. People who receive a booster shot are removed from the Series Completed Category and added to the Additional Dose Category.
Twenty-three percent of Floridians have received a booster shot, a dose considered extremely important for providing protection against the omicron variant. Since I created this chart, researchers have discovered that booster efficacy begins to wane at ten weeks:
Efficacy at Peak of Protection: Booster Efficacy Wanes 15% to 20% After Ten Weeks
For all adults in the US during January 2–8, 2022, the CDC has added people who received booster shots as a separate category.
For those 18–49 years old, unvaccinated people were hospitalized at a rate of 54.4/100,000. A primary vaccine course prevented 77% of expected hospitalizations. Adding a booster shot increased the protection to 94%:
Unvaccinated people aged 50–64 were hospitalized at a rate of 136.9/100,000. Those who finished a vaccine series had 79% fewer hospitalizations than expected. A booster dose prevented 92% of hospitalizations:
Results for that same week for senior citizens showed that unvaccinated individuals required hospital care at a rate of 426.1/100,000. Completing a vaccine series reduced the likelihood of needing hospitalization by 72%. Adding a booster prevented 94% of hospitalizations which would have occurred without vaccination:
Salemi USF: COVID-19 in Florida
CDC: Rates of Laboratory-Confirmed COVID-19 Hospitalizations by Vaccination Status
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On January 14, 2022, Governor DeSantis’s office announced it would not enforce the federal government’s vaccine mandate for healthcare workers. The US Supreme Court upheld the requirement for all healthcare facilities which receive federal funds on the 13th.
On January 19th, the Florida Department of Health placed the epidemiologist who led Orange County’s pandemic response on administrative leave. He may be charged with a criminal offense for sending an email chiding the county’s public health employees for their 40% vaccination rate. That suspension appears to still be in force.
A day later, Governor DeSantis promoted a conspiracy theory by asserting that many nurses are avoiding vaccination because “they’re trying to have families.” Numerous studies confirm that vaccination does not cause infertility; in fact, getting Covid can reduce male fertility.
Becker’s Hospital Review: DeSantis Casts aside CMS Vaccine Rule for Hospitals
BBC: Top Florida Health Official on Leave over Support for Vaccination
Twitter: DeSantis Pushes Infertility Conspiracy
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Note that archived data on influenza statistics is readily available on the FL Dept of Health web site: Florida Influenza Surveillance Reports 2001–2022
This data from February 11–17, 2022, came from Dr. Salemi’s archives. Since October 14th, my browser will not download the FL Dept of Health Weekly Report, citing it as a security risk. Nevertheless, you would not find any archived Covid information on the FL Dept of Health site:
This was the situation during February 11–17, 2022:
- New cases = 42,473; Cumulative cases = 5,775,171
- Positivity rate = 8.2%
- New deaths = 161; Cumulative deaths = 68,902
- Vaccination rate = 74%
- Fully vaccinated people minus those with booster shots = 8,235,681
- Total booster doses: 5,007,337
Salemi USF: COVID-19 in Florida
Feb 17, 2022 Florida Covid Stats: What Is Really Happening?
On February 25, 2022, the CDC updated their masking guidelines based upon a combination of Covid hospital admissions and utilization as well as the number of new cases in a county. They range from low (green) through medium (yellow) to high risk (orange). You can click on the hyperlink below this for more specific information and the interactive map:
CDC: COVID-19 Community Levels
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Covid Deaths in Florida:
Despite making national news for the state government’s attempt to cover up the number of deaths, nothing has changed in the Florida Department of Health’s methodology.
The Hill: Florida Reported ‘Artificial Decline’ in COVID-19 Deaths as Cases Were Surging
Florida Covid Statistics: What is Really Happening?
On June 4th, the state removed all data from anyone who has not established permanent residency and stopped reporting information from visitors, seasonal residents, and migrant workers. This deleted 744 deaths. I can no longer access this file, as my browser deems it a security risk:
FL Covid-19 Cases and Monitoring as of June 3, 2021
Subtracting the February 24th New Deaths from the Cumulative Deaths should give us the number of February 24th Cumulative Deaths. However, doing that reveals 769 deaths which were not included in the February 24th New Deaths. There was a total of 888 deaths reported in Florida during that week. Yet only 13% of deaths (119) are reflected clearly on the February 24th report. This is a 33% decrease from last week (1,330):
Salemi USF: COVID-19 in Florida
Feb 17, 2022 Florida Covid Stats: What Is Really Happening?
When the state receives a report of a death from an earlier week, that information is added to “Cumulative Deaths” without being noted in “Previous Week Deaths.” It usually takes more than one week for death reports to get sent to the state.
Unless someone knows to compare the two data sets from both weeks, that is not apparent. By removing data from February 17th and adding data from February 24th on the state’s web site simultaneously, only people who have saved the older data can see what they are doing. It looks like the death rate is 87% better than it is.
Florida Politics: Florida Reports 1000+ Covid-19 Deaths in Past Week
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During February 18th–24th, Hillsborough County had 95 deaths reported to the CDC, an increase of 217% from the prior week:
CDC: Integrated County View, Hillsborough FL
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Florida residents at least sixteen years old became eligible for vaccination on April 1, 2021. SARS-CoV-2 infections have killed 35,529 permanent residents of the state since that date to February 24, 2022. Despite having only 6.6% of the US population, this represents 9.2% of all American Covid-19 deaths since everyone at least 16 years old qualified for vaccination:
Trends in Number of COVID-19 Cases and Deaths in the US Reported to CDC, by State
Nationwide, 8.4% of senior citizens who have tested positive have died. Since the pandemic began, 1.1% of all permanent Florida residents at least 65 years old have died due to Covid-19 (1,145/100,000). That is 7.0% of people in that age group who tested positive. It was 9.0% on December 30th, indicating that a lot of Florida’s senior citizens have tested positive in the last two months:
By comparing the last two weeks, we can see the number and percentage of deaths in each demographic group which occurred during February 18–24, 2022. Somewhere in this table, there are three more deaths reported for last week (891, not 888). Compared to last week, significantly more younger people have died than usual. For example, seniors accounted for 84% of reported deaths in the February 18th report:
- Under 16 = 0 (0%)
- 16–29 = 8 (0.9%)
- 30–39 = 13 (1.5%)
- 40–49 = 56 (6.3%)
- 50–59 = 135 (15.2%)
- 60–64 = 87 (9.7%)
- 65+ = 591 (66.5%)
888 100%
Florida does not report deaths by vaccination status, so I cannot determine the percentage of deaths occurring in unvaccinated people, those who received a full series, or boosted individuals.
CDC: Demographic Trends of COVID-19 Cases and Deaths in the US Reported to CDC
Salemi USF: COVID-19 in Florida
Feb 17, 2022 Florida Covid Stats: What Is Really Happening?
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The CDC recently updated their algorithm for calculating excess deaths in the US to include six years of data, rather than four, due to the pandemic skewing the expected numbers. Here is that information for Florida. You can click on each bar on their site to see the data for that week. It takes up to eight weeks for complete reporting:
Here is another way to visualize that chart. You can see all states by clicking Percent Excess Deaths on the CDC’s site:
CDC: Excess Deaths Associated with COVID-19
Florida has a higher than expected proportion of excess deaths compared to other states. This is the total number of excess deaths throughout the pandemic, not the number per 100,000 people. California has 70% more people than Florida yet the number of excess deaths is nearly the same:
DC: Excess Deaths Associated with COVID-19 by Jurisdiction/Cause
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Eight weeks ago, Florida improved from the deepest shade of blue for the first time since I began downloading this graphic. If you go to the CDC’s site and click on Florida, you will see on the February 26th update that only 43 deaths are reported for the last 7 days, despite 888 in the state report during February 18–24, 2022. The other large states have much higher numbers for the week. Florida now ranks second for the highest proportion of Covid deaths among the six largest states: CA (212); TX (287); FL (323); NY (243); PA (337); IL (290):
CDC: United States COVID-19 Cases, Deaths, and Laboratory Testing by State and Territory
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Covid Cases in Florida:
On the February 24th report, Florida reported 5,800,561 cumulative cases among permanent residents. Of those, 25,640 were reported as new, a 40% decrease from the prior week (42,473). Subtracting the new number from the cumulative one should give us the cumulative number from the prior week: 5,774,921.
However, the February 24th report shows a cumulative number of 5,775,171. This week, the state is over-reporting 250 cases, 1% of the total:
Salemi USF: COVID-19 in Florida
Feb 17, 2022 Florida Covid Stats: What Is Really Happening?
On June 4th, the state removed all data from anyone who has not established permanent residency and stopped reporting information from visitors, seasonal residents, and migrant workers. This deleted 43,535 cases. I can no longer access this file, as my browser deems it a security risk:
FL Covid-19 Cases and Monitoring as of June 3, 2021
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Following six weeks of large increases since the omicron variant was first detected, Florida began a downward trajectory six weeks ago. However, our new cases are still 166% higher than in mid-November (9,642 reported on 11-19-21). A new case positivity rate of 5.6% means there is likely one unreported case for each ten positive tests:
Public health officials recommend maintaining a positivity rate less than 5% for two weeks before reopening.
Salemi USF: COVID-19 in Florida
Nov 18, 2021 Florida Covid Stats: What is Really Happening?
JHU: COVID-19 Testing: Understanding the “Percent Positive”
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Miami-Dade County was one of the first places in the state to detect the omicron variant. On December 16th, 80% of samples sequenced there were the omicron variant. Only two weeks before, 99% had been the delta variant. Until this week, the omicron wave seemed to have reached its peak in that county. Look at what has happened there in the seven days before February 24th:
- 3,200 cases in an area where 89% of the eligible population is fully vaccinated. This is a 32% decrease from last week, when there were 4,700; two weeks ago, there were 24,000; three weeks ago, there were 16,000; four weeks ago, there were 23,000; five weeks ago, there were 47,000; six weeks ago, there were 94,000; seven weeks ago, there were 110,000; eight weeks ago, they had 100,000; nine weeks ago, there were 11,500 new cases.
- 0.1% of the population tested positive during last week (118/100,000)
- A 4.55% positivity rate, meaning this is likely the actual number of cases. This is a decrease of 2% from the previous week.
- A drop in hospital admissions for the fifth straight week since the omicron wave began (25%).
- The number of people who died fell to 103, a 38% decrease from a week ago (167).
ABC News: Omicron Makes Up 80% of Cases in Miami-Dade
CDC: Integrated County View, Miami-Dade FL
Florida Covid Statistics: What is Really Happening?
There is a discrepancy between the CDC and state data, with Florida reporting a 39% lower positivity rate (2.8%) and 33 fewer new cases (1.0%):
Salemi USF: COVID-19 in Florida
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During the week of February 18–24, 2022, 909 children under five tested positive in Florida, a decrease of 44% over the previous week (1,641). Among those 5–19, 3,338 tested positive, 45% fewer than the prior week (6,100). In total, 4,247 Florida residents under the age of twenty tested positive, a decrease of 45% from the week before (7,741). Adolescents had positivity rates 1% higher than any other demographic group in Florida:
Booster shots are approved for anyone at least 12 years old who had a second shot of an mRNA vaccine over five months ago or got the Johnson & Johnson vaccine two months ago. Those aged 12–17 are limited to the Pfizer vaccine.
Salemi USF: COVID-19 in Florida
Feb 17, 2022 Florida Covid Stats: What Is Really Happening?
CDC: COVID-19 Vaccine Booster Shots
This school year began on August 10th, and the Hillsborough County School District instituted a mandatory mask mandate on August 18th. They ended it on October 15th. Florida law prohibits requiring masks in non-medical settings and now leaves the decision about quarantining after a close contact at school to the child’s parents.
HCSD: Covid FrequentlyAsked Questions
The Hillsborough County School District published a notice effective January 31, 2022:
“The Florida Department of Health has shifted COVID-19 case investigation focus to: ‘high-congregate settings’ (nursing homes/skilled nursing/assisted living facilities, correctional facilities, homeless shelters, group homes) at high risk for secondary transmission or poor health outcomes among their residents as a result of COVID-19 infection. Public schools and daycare settings are not considered congregate settings.”
During the week leading up to that announcement 38,629 school-aged children in Florida had tested positive.
Hillsborough County School District: COVID-19 Student Protocol
Jan 27, 2022 Florida Covid Stats: What Is Really Happening
On January 26th, the Orange County School District announced that the state will no longer permit excused absences for Covid effective January 31st. Children who quarantine after a Covid exposure will be considered truant:
Orange County School District: Unexcused Absences for Covid
In the Hillsborough County School District, as of February 24, 2022, there have been 27,932 cases during this school year. The 118 cases reported during February 18–24, 2022 constitute a 58% decrease from the previous week (278 during February 11–17, 2022).
My daughters’ high school has had 144 cases, with none of those in the last three weeks. The local middle school has had 146 cases; none of those occurred in the last three weeks. Our elementary school has had 184, with 1 occurring last week. None had been reported for several weeks before the fall semester ended.
Hillsborough County Public Schools Covid Dashboard
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Here are a few of the FL Dept of Health county positivity rates. Hillsborough County’s fell 18%, from 11.9% to 9.7%. The state average dropped by 32% in one week, from 8.2% to 5.6%. That means there is likely one unreported case for every 10 positive tests in the state. We cannot tell from the state report that the number of cases in Hillsborough County decreased by 30% in the past week (from 4,324 to 3,009):
Salemi USF: COVID-19 in Florida
Feb 17, 2022 Florida Covid Stats: What Is Really Happening?
Dr. Jason Salemi, a professor from the University of South Florida, has been compiling data from the state since May 28th, when the reporting drastically changed. His county-level data are quite helpful. Note that the date reflects the beginning of the week. It indicates that Hillsborough County’s case rate fell 30%, from 287/100,000 people to 200/100,000 during February 18–24, 2022. On his site, you can click on the maps for detailed information on each county:
He also lists the data for each week since May 28, 2021, when Florida deleted its daily dashboard. I have excluded some weeks to fit the most recent data into the screenshot. The 30% decrease in Hillsborough County cases this week is evident here:
Salemi USF: COVID-19 in Florida
CDC: COVID-19 Integrated County View, Hillsborough County FL
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Covid Therapeutics in FL:
Until January 8th, the state continued to emphasize monoclonal antibody treatment as the focus of the Covid-19 Response web site. Mutations which have resulted in the omicron variant render ineffective almost all the monoclonal antibodies currently in use, including the antibody combination used in Regeneron against the delta variant (imdevimab and casirivimab). In the US, 100% of cases are now due to the omicron strain. Five weeks ago, 98% were omicron:
January 6, 2022 Florida Statistics: What Is Really Happening?
There was only one monoclonal antibody produced in the US which can attach to circulating omicron BA.1 particles. Sotrovimab works against the original omicron variant at a dosage three times that required to neutralize the delta variant and is given in two injections at the same visit. With the sudden shift in predominating strains, it is likely to be very difficult even for people at the highest risk to access the limited supply of monoclonal antibody treatment for an omicron infection.
NEJM: Efficacy of Antibodies and Antiviral Drugs Against Covid-19 Omicron Variant
Six weeks ago, hospitals in Florida used 140 of the state’s stockpile of 4,400 Sotrovimab doses, in contrast to over 2,700 doses of the ineffective Regeneron monoclonal antibody. On January 18th, the state announced the opening of additional monoclonal antibody infusion centers to distribute what remained of the 15,000 additional doses of Regeneron secured on January 7th.
Tampa Bay Times: Omicron Undermines Florida’s Strategy to Combat Coronavirus: Gov. Ron DeSantis Continues to Tout Monoclonal Antibody Therapies, but New Evidence Shows Their Effectiveness Against COVID-19 Is Waning
Florida Health: Florida to Open Additional Monoclonal Antibody Therapy Treatment Sites
A week later, the FDA revised its Emergency Use Authorizations for the two components of Regeneron, prohibiting their use against the omicron variant. The federal government stopped shipping those monoclonal antibodies.
Governor DeSantis accused the Biden Administration of having no clinical evidence, despite the manufacturers of both antibodies noting they are now ineffective:
FDA: Coronoavirus (COVID-19) Update: FDA Limits Use of Certain Monoclonal Antibodies to Treat COVID-19 Due to the Omicron Variant
Daniel Dale: DeSantis vs Regeneron and Lilly
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Currently, there is some controversy over whether Sotrovimab works against the omicron BA.2 subvariant. One study deems it 27 times less effective against BA.2 than for BA.1. However, the manufacturer disagrees.
BioRxiv: Antibody Evasion Properties of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron Sublineages
In this map, purple represents the original omicron variant while pink shows the amount of omicron BA.2. In the past week, the percentage of BA.2 increased from 1.9% to 4.5% in the region which includes Florida:
A clinical trial shows that a different monoclonal antibody called bebtelovimab neutralizes omicron BA.1 and omicron BA.2. Accordingly, on February 10, 2022, the US Department of Health and Human Services announced the purchase of enough to treat 600,000 people.
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On December 8, 2021, the FDA issued an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for Evusheld, a monoclonal antibody developed to protect people over the age of 12 with severe immunosuppression against infection. Due to the scarce supply, people with certain cancers or who have received organ transplants receive the highest priority.
Governor DeSantis announced the new preventative was available on December 17th, when Covid was raging through Miami-Dade County. However, the first shipments went to a small private fee-based clinic in Broward County, not to a major medical center. People flew from out of state to receive it. A spokesperson for the state claimed the iCare Clinic received priority because it was open on Christmas and New Year’s Day. Jackson Memorial, the hospital in Miami with the most transplant patients in FL, was to receive it four weeks later.
Stat: A Tiny Florida Company Got more of a Scarce Covid Therapy than Some Big Hospitals, Raising Equity Questions
Evusheld appears to remain effective against the omicron BA.2 subvariant. However, due to that subvariant, the FDA amended the EUA on February 24, 2022, to double the dosage of each component of Evusheld. People who had already received it should contact their physicians about an additional shot. The FDA is now uncertain how long the immunity conferred by Evusheld will last.
FDA: FDA Authorizes Revisions to Evusheld Dosing
During the week of February 7th, the federal government sent enough doses for 32,920 outpatient treatments which work against omicron to Florida for the state to distribute. Unfortunately, only 11,900 of those doses are highly effective. While Paxlovid prevents 89% of the expected hospitalizations or deaths, Molnupiravir reduced the risk by only 30%:
During February 14–21, the federal government began shipping bebtelovimab. Here is what they are shipping to Florida during February 28–March 6:
Nature: Merck’s COVID Pill Loses Its Lustre: What that Means for the Pandemic
Public Health Emergency: State/Territory-Coordinated Weekly Distribution of COVID-19 Therapeutics
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Florida Covid Testing:
On January 3, 2022, the Florida Surgeon General decried the “testing psychology” which seeks to identify all Covid cases to slow the rate of community transmission. Amidst the scandal which erupted on January 7th concerning the 1,000,000 expired antigen tests, Florida’s web site shifted its focus to testing. Specifically, that people who are not high-risk should avoid it.
On January 6th, the governor announced the state is shipping 1,000,000 test kits to long-term care and nursing facilities:
The Hill: Florida Surgeon General Blasts “Testing Psychology” around COVID-19
The Hill: DeSantis Administration Says It Let a Million COVID-19 Tests Expire in Florida Warehouse
The Hill: Florida Sending 1 Million Free COVID-19 Tests to Elderly Communities
On February 7th, the Florida Department of Health officially reprimanded two testing companies which failed to report the results of 230,000 Covid tests taken during December and January.
Tampa Bay Times: Florida Contractors Didn’t Report 230,000 COVID Tests on Time During Omicron Wave
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Covid Hospitalizations in Florida:
You won’t find any hospitalization information on Florida’s Weekly Surveillance Reports. Florida stopped reporting Covid hospitalizations on June 24, 2021. However, Florida must relay all hospitalization data to the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
Florida reported a record 13,028 hospitalizations for Covid-19 on August 24, 2021, to the US Department of Health and Human Services.
Since the omicron variant became predominant, hospital officials are seeing more incidental Covid cases among people who are in the hospital. Roughly one-third are admitted for a primary diagnosis of Covid; one-third for a Covid infection making an underlying condition worse; and one-third for reasons unrelated to their viral infection.
WaPo: In the Nation’s Hospitals, this Covid Wave Is Different
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Last fall, Florida had the highest adult hospitalization rate in the US. Until nine weeks ago, Florida had remained the second best (ending at 8.9/100,000) for seven weeks. Last week, Florida dropped from 24th to 26th in rank among states. There was a 32% improvement in adults requiring hospital care (22.5/100,000 to 15.4/100,000):
Florida’s pediatric hospitalization rank dropped from 18th to 26th, with a 33% decline (from 2.26/100,000 to 1.51/100,000):
Salemi USF: COVID-19 Currently Hospitalized in Florida
Feb 17, 2022 Florida Covid Stats: What Is Really Happening?
For August 1, 2020–February 24, 2022, Florida has had 404,096 new hospital admissions for Covid patients. This represents 8.9% of all Covid admissions in the US for 6.6% of the US population:
For February 18–24, 2022, there was an average of 466 admissions per day, a total of 3,264. Overall, there was a decrease of 31% from the previous week (4,740; 677/day) and 79% fewer compared to the peak during August 11–17, 2021, when there were 10.42 admissions/100,000 Floridians.
You can find more detailed hospitalization statistics on the same CDC COVID Data Tracker, choosing Florida as the Jurisdiction and stratifying by any age:
During February 18–24, 2022, hospitalizations declined for every age group, ranging from 18% for ages 30–39 to 49% for ages 18–29. The amount of decrease did not correspond to decreasing age. Only six weeks earlier, hospitalizations had increased for every adult age group, ranging from 4% for ages 18–29 to 60% for people over 70.
Children had experienced a 203% rise during the last week of December. Compared to the delta variant wave we encountered in 2021, omicron admissions have been higher for people younger than 30 and older than 69.
On February 24th, there were 2.17 new admissions/100,000 Floridians; 3.19 the week before:
| Age | Admissions | % Change |
| 0–17 | 0.68 | -36 |
| 18–29 | 0.61 | -49 |
| 30–39 | 1.08 | -18 |
| 40–49 | 1.10 | -31 |
| 50–59 | 1.64 | -43 |
| 60–69 | 2.83 | -36 |
| 70+ | 6.70 | -27 |
| all ages | 2.17 | -32 |
Feb 17, 2022 Florida Covid Stats: What Is Really Happening?
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After seven weeks of increases, the number of adults in the hospital started to decline five weeks ago. On February 25th, that number had fallen another 26% to 2,907. That is still 200% more than on December 3rd (968). New adult admissions have dropped by 34% to 407/day. The proportion of adults needing care in the ICU remains at 19% after steady increases since February 12th.
Pediatric hospitalizations are 32% lower than last week, with 65 children in Florida hospitals on February 25, 2022. There were 46 pediatric admissions/day, 26% less than a week ago and 130% higher than on December 3rd (20). One in 10 admissions are for children, up from one in 11 on February 18th.
Salemi USF: COVID-19 in Florida Hospital Admissions by Age
Jan 13, 2022 Florida Covid Stats: What Is Really Happening?
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HHS tracks Hospital Utilization. On the morning of February 25, 2022, 81% of hospital beds in Florida were full, the same as last week. Covid patients accounted for 3,358 of them (6% of utilized beds, down from 8%). A week earlier, there were 4,637 hospitalized Covid patients, so there were 28% fewer inpatients with Covid:
Nine percent of ICU beds in use in Florida were used by 562 Covid patients, 24% fewer than the previous week (741). A week earlier, 12% of ICU beds were used by Covid patients. Overall, 77% of ICU beds are occupied in the state, compared to 80% a week earlier:
HHS: Inpatient Bed Utilization by State
Feb 17, 2022 Florida Covid Stats: What Is Really Happening?
Many hospitals are publishing their own occupancy statistics. For example, Tampa General Hospital released this on February 18th:
- There were 53 Covid-19 admissions, down from 72 a week before
- Seventeen Covid patients were in their ICU, down from 24 a week earlier
Tampa General: Hospital Bed Availability for COVID-19 Patients
Feb 17, 2022 Florida Covid Stats: What Is Really Happening?
Archived posts on Florida Covid statistics are available here
Redemptive History and Theology 