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. Let’s look at these two charts from the Florida Department of Health.
Here is some of the data from September 10–16, 2021:
- New cases = 75,906; Cumulative cases = 3,485,163
- New deaths = 384; Cumulative deaths = 51,240
- Vaccination rate = 70%
- Fully vaccinated people = 11,208,873
- Roughly 600,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in August.
The vaccination rate of 70% represents only those who are eligible for vaccination and includes partially vaccinated people. Florida’s population is currently 21,975,117. That makes the actual full vaccination percentage = 51.0%.
Florida Covid-19 Weekly Situation Report: September 10–16
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 September 2–9, 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 = 100,012; Cumulative cases = 3,409,165
- New deaths = 353; Cumulative deaths = 48,772
- Vaccination rate = 69%
- Fully vaccinated people = 11,048,444
- Roughly 600,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in August.
September 9, 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 September 16th new deaths from the cumulative deaths should give us the number of September 9th cumulative deaths. However, doing that reveals 2,084 deaths which were not included in the September 16th data. There was a total of 2,468 deaths reported in Florida during that week. Yet only 15.6% of deaths (384) are reflected clearly on the September 16th report.
Florida Covid-19 Weekly Situation Report: September 10–16
This is a 0.8% increase from last week (2,448), breaking Florida’s record for the number of Covid deaths for the fourth week in a row. In the last five weeks, 10,474 permanent residents of Florida have died from Covid-19.
September 9, 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 September 9th and adding data from September 16th simultaneously, only people who have saved the older data can see what they are doing. It looks like the death rate is 84% 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
Covid Cases in Florida:
On the September 16th report, Florida reported 3,485,163 cumulative cases. Of those, 75,906 were new, a 24% improvement from the prior week (100,012). Subtracting the new number from the cumulative one should give us the cumulative number from the previous week: 3,409,165.
However, the September 9th report shows a cumulative number of 3,409, 257, a discrepancy of 92 extra cases. Why that difference exists remains unclear.
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
Given the current situation in Florida schools, any mention of the number of cases occurring specifically in children under the age of 12 is notably absent:
Florida Covid-19 Weekly Situation Report: September 10–16
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 September 10th:
During the week of September 4–September 10, 12,202 17,165 children under twelve tested positive in Florida, a decrease of 41% over the previous week. Among those 12–19, 9,657 13,947 tested positive, a decrease of 44%. In total, 21,859 Florida residents under the age of twenty tested positive.
Salemi USF: COVID-19 in Florida
In the Hillsborough County School District, 11% of the 9994 cases have occurred in the past week. Two 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.
My daughters’ high school has had 70 cases, an increase of 17% in the past week. During August 28th–September 2nd, the increase from the prior week was 87%. Our elementary school has had 50 cases, an increase of 19%. That rate of increase dropped by only 1%.
Hillsborough County Public Schools Covid Dashboard
Look at the difference in ease of use between the Dept of Health’s county positivity rates:
Florida Covid-19 Weekly Situation Report: September 10–16
and Jason Salemi’s:
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 10,207 hospitalizations for Covid-19 on August 1, 2021 to the US Department of Health and Human Services.
Two weeks ago, Florida had the highest adult hospitalization rate in the US. Over the past week, Florida improved from the fourth worst hospitalization rate for adults in the nation to ninth worst (52.9/100,000); the state remains the fifth worst for children:
Salemi USF: COVID-19 Currently Hospitalized in Florida
You can also find statistics on the CDC’s COVID Data Tracker, choosing Florida as the Jurisdiction and stratifying by any age:
For August 1, 2020–September 16, 2021, Florida had 290,470 new admissions for Covid patients, with a daily average of 1,435 new admissions over the past seven days (a decrease of 23% from 1,770 the previous week). Every age group declined, with pediatric admissions down by 18.5%.
On September 16th, there were 5.22 new admissions/100,000 Floridians:
| Age | Admissions |
| 0–17 | 0.97 |
| 18–29 | 1.95 |
| 30–39 | 4.01 |
| 40–49 | 4.85 |
| 50–59 | 6.33 |
| 60–69 | 7.26 |
| 70+ | 11.08 |
| all ages | 5.22 |
Despite this encouraging news, the number of people in the hospital remains high:
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 September 18th, 2021, 82% of hospital beds in Florida were full. The 9,393 Covid patients accounted for 16% of utilized beds, an improvement of 5%.
Thirty-seven percent of ICU beds in use in Florida are occupied by 2,412 Covid patients. That is down from 44% the previous week. State-wide, 88% of ICU beds are occupied:
HHS: Inpatient Bed Utilization by State
Many hospitals are publishing their own occupancy statistics. For example, Tampa General Hospital released this on September 18th:
- Over 90% of beds allotted to Covid patients were in use
- There were 135 Covid-19 admissions, down from 183 one week before
- 49 Covid patients were in their ICU, down from 68 one week before
Tampa General : Hospital Bed Availability for COVID-19 Patients
While the number of cases and hospitalizations are now declining, the number of Covid-19 deaths broke the previous record for the fourth week in a row.
Archived posts on Florida Covid statistics are available here:
Redemptive History and Theology 