I have also published delta variant information and in-depth Covid-19 information.
Florida is the only state in the US which is releasing statistics on a weekly, not daily, basis. Since Saturday, I have made multiple attempts to access the FL Dept of Health Weekly Report and my browser will not download it due to a potential security risk:
On Monday, 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. While I’m not sure the events are related, I’m going to rely upon the information published by the Tampa Bay Times on October 17th for this week’s report. It is now Thursday night and I still have not received a response from the FL COVID Data Analytics group.
Here is some of the data from October 8–14, 2021:
- New cases = 19,519; Cumulative cases = 3,620,562
- New deaths = 123; Cumulative deaths = 57,859
- Vaccination rate = 72%
- Fully vaccinated people = not available (last week was listed as 11,370,030)
- Roughly 600,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in August.
TBT 10-17-21: Weekly Count is 19,519 Infections, 1,192 Deaths
The vaccination rate of 72% represents only those who are eligible for vaccination and includes partially vaccinated people. Florida’s population is currently 21,975,117. That means the actual full vaccination percentage last week was 51.6%.
October 7, 2021 Florida Statistics: What is Really Happening?
Note that archived data on influenza statistics is readily available on the FL Dept of Health web site: Florida Influenza Surveillance Reports 2003–2021
The chart for October 1–7, 2021 is from a screenshot because Florida is immediately removing all traces of older Covid data when the new data is put online:
- New cases = 25,792; Cumulative cases = 3,601,755
- New deaths = 147; Cumulative deaths = 56,667
- Vaccination rate = 72%
- Fully vaccinated people = 11,339,967 (last week was listed as 11,370,030)
- Roughly 600,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in August.
October 7, 2021 Florida Statistics: What is Really Happening?
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
Subtracting the October 14th New Deaths from the Cumulative Deaths should give us the number of October 7th Cumulative Deaths. However, doing that reveals 1,069 deaths which were not included in the October 14th New Deaths. There was a total of 1,192 deaths reported in Florida during that week. Yet only 10.3% of deaths (123) are reflected clearly on the October 14th report. This is a 13% decrease from last week (1,368), half the decrease in the previous report.
TBT 10-17-21: Weekly Count is 19,519 Infections, 1,192 Deaths
October 7, 2021 Florida Statistics: What is Really Happening?
When the state receives a report of a death from a previous 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 October 8th and adding data from October 16th simultaneously, only people who have saved the older data can see what they are doing. It looks like the death rate is 89% better than it is.
Florida Politics: Florida Reports 1000+ Covid-19 Deaths in Past Week
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:
FL Covid-19 Cases and Monitoring as of June 3, 2021
Since August 1st, 18,325 permanent residents of Florida have died from Covid-19. All FL residents at least sixteen years old became eligible for vaccination on April 1st. SARS-CoV-2 infections have killed 24,134 permanent residents of the state since that date. Despite having only 6.6% of the US population, this represents 15% of all American Covid-19 deaths during that time.
Trends in Number of COVID-19 Cases and Deaths in the US Reported to CDC, by State
A comparison of Covid deaths in the six largest US states reveals that Florida had the highest proportion of deaths during April 1, 2021–September 29, 2021, when all Americans over the age of 16 were eligible for vaccination:
Covid Cases in Florida:
On the October 14th report, Florida reported 3,620,562 cumulative cases. Of those, 19,519 were new, a 24% improvement from the prior week (25,792). Subtracting the new number from the cumulative one should give us the cumulative number from the previous week: 3,601,755.
However, the October 7th report shows a cumulative number of 3,601,755, an under-reporting of 712 cases (3.7%). Why that difference exists remains unclear.
TBT 10-17-21: Weekly Count is 19,519 Infections, 1,192 Deaths
October 7, 2021 Florida Statistics: What is Really Happening?
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.
FL Covid-19 Cases and Monitoring as of June 3, 2021
Since I cannot access the FL Dept of Health Weekly Report, the number of cases in children under twelve directly from the state isn’t available this week.
A professor from the University of South Florida has been compiling data from the state since May 28th. Here is what he has posted about pediatric cases since then until October 8th. I have omitted the earlier weeks to fit the data into one screenshot:
During the week of October 2–October 8, 2,978 children under twelve tested positive in Florida, a decrease of 28% over the previous week. Among those 12–19, 1,838 tested positive, a decrease of 29%. In total, 4,816 Florida residents under the age of twenty tested positive.
Salemi USF: COVID-19 in Florida
In the Hillsborough County School District, 1% of the 11,484 cases have occurred in the past week. Five weeks ago, the rate of increase was 87%. The school year began on August 10th, and the district instituted a mandatory mask mandate on August 18th. They ended it on October 15th.
HCSD: Covid FrequentlyAsked Questions
https://www.hillsboroughschools.org/reopeningfaqs
My daughters’ high school has had 70 cases, with none in the past four weeks. During August 28th–September 2nd, the increase from the prior week was 87%. Our elementary school has had 59 cases, the same number as the previous two weeks.
Hillsborough County Public Schools Covid Dashboard
Unfortunately, I cannot access the Dept of Health’s county positivity rates directly.
However, the ones provided by Jason Salemi are quite helpful:
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.
Salemi USF: COVID-19 in Florida
Covid Hospitalizations in Florida:
You won’t find any hospitalization information on Florida’s Weekly Surveillance Reports. Florida stopped reporting Covid hospitalization 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.
Six weeks ago, Florida had the highest adult hospitalization rate in the US. Over the past two weeks, Florida improved from the thirty-first worst hospitalization rate for adults in the nation to the fortieth worst on October 21st (from 18.4 to 13.4/100,000).
Florida’s pediatric hospitalization rate dropped from tenth worst two weeks ago to 26th worst on October 21st (2.03 to 0.97/100,000).
The rise in rank from twenty-second to tenth worst which coincided with changes in the school masking and quarantine policies enacted on September 22, 2021, by the new FL Surgeon General, appears to have abated. This makes it harder for counties to enforce mandatory mask wearing and allows the parents of children exposed to SARS-CoV-2 to determine whether their children should quarantine or return to school.
Salemi USF: COVID-19 Currently Hospitalized in Florida
TBT 9-30-21: Florida’s School Mask, Quarantine Rules Draw More Criticism
You can also find hospitalization statistics on the CDC’s COVID Data Tracker, choosing Florida as the Jurisdiction and stratifying by any age:
For August 1, 2020–October 14, 2021, Florida had 307,068 new admissions for Covid patients. This represents 9.7% of all Covid hospitalizations in the US for 6.6% of the US population. The daily average over the past seven days was 424 new admissions (a decrease of 11% in the past week and of 85% from the peak during August 11–17, when there were 10.42 admissions/100,000 Floridians). Every age group declined.
On October 14th, there were 1.82 new admissions/100,000 Floridians:
| Age | Admissions |
| 0–17 | 0.34 |
| 18–29 | 0.73 |
| 30–39 | 1.22 |
| 40–49 | 1.43 |
| 50–59 | 1.63 |
| 60–69 | 2.41 |
| 70+ | 4.25 |
| all ages | 1.82 |
The number of people in the hospital is now steadily dropping, and the percentage of children is now falling also:
Salemi USF: COVID-19 in Florida Hospital Admissions by Age
HHS tracks Hospital Utilization. Searching by facility does not include the number of Covid-19 patients. However, after scrolling down to Inpatient Bed Utilization by State, you can choose Florida. On October 16th, 2021, 79% of hospital beds in Florida were full, the same as the past two weeks. The 3,073 Covid patients accounted for 6% of utilized beds, an improvement of 1%.
Thirteen percent of ICU beds in use in Florida are occupied by 821 Covid patients. That is down from 17% the previous week. State-wide, 79% of ICU beds are occupied, down 1%:
HHS: Inpatient Bed Utilization by State
Many hospitals are publishing their own occupancy statistics. For example, Tampa General Hospital released this on October 2nd:
- There were 27 Covid-19 admissions, down from 33 one week before
- 14 Covid patients were in their ICU, up from 13 one week before
Tampa General : Hospital Bed Availability for COVID-19 Patients
In Florida, the number of deaths, cases, and hospitalizations due to Covid-19 are all declining significantly. However, the state is continuing to claim only 10% of Covid-19 deaths reported for permanent residents of Florida during the past week as “New Deaths.”
Throughout the course of the pandemic, 10% of all hospitalizations in the US have been within the state. Between April 1st and October 14th of this year, 15% of all Covid-19 deaths have occurred in Florida, a state with 6.6% of the population.
Archived posts on Florida Covid statistics are available here:
Redemptive History and Theology 