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 August 20–26, 2021:
Florida COVID-19 Weekly Situation Report: August 20–26, 2021
- New cases = 151,749; Cumulative cases = 3,179,714
- New deaths = 389; Cumulative deaths = 43,979
- Vaccination rate = 68%
- Fully vaccinated people = 10,785,185
The vaccination rate of 68% 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 = 49.1%.
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 August 13–19, 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 = 150,118; Cumulative cases = 3,027,954
- New deaths = 346; Cumulative deaths = 42,252
- Vaccination rate = 66%
- Fully vaccinated people = 10,530,911
August 19, 2021 Florida Statistics: What is Really Happening?
Covid Deaths in Florida:
Subtracting the August 26th new deaths from the cumulative deaths should give us the number of August 19th cumulative deaths. However, doing that reveals 1,388 deaths which were not included in the August 19th data.
There were 1,727 deaths reported in Florida during this week. Yet only 23% of deaths (389) are reflected clearly on the August 26th report. This is a 16% increase since last week (1488).
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 August 19th and adding data from August 26th simultaneously, only people who have saved the older data can see what they are doing. It looks like the death rate is 77% 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 August 26th report, Florida reported 3,179,714 cumulative cases. Of those, 151,749 were new. Subtracting the new number from the cumulative one should give us the cumulative number from the previous week: 3,027,965.
However, the August 19th report shows a cumulative number of 3,027,954, a discrepancy of 11 extra cases. Why that difference exists remains unclear. It is a marked improvement from the previous week’s 622 extra cases.
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.
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:
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 August 20th:
During the week of August 13–19, 26,475 children under twelve tested positive in Florida, an increase of 30% over the previous week. Among those 12–19, 21,740 tested positive, an increase of 26%. In total, 48,215 Florida residents under the age of twenty tested positive.
Salemi USF: COVID-19 in Florida
Many of Florida’s school districts are maintaining their own dashboards. In Hillsborough County, my daughters’ high school has had 31; our elementary school has had 28.
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: August 20–26, 2021
and his:
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 has the worst hospitalization rate for adults in the nation; second 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 1–26, Florida had 258,151 new admissions for Covid patients.
On August 25th, the numbers of new admissions/100,000 population were:
| Age | Admissions |
| 0–17 | 1.46 |
| 18–29 | 3.67 |
| 30–39 | 8.19 |
| 40–49 | 10.6 |
| 50–59 | 14.31 |
| 60–69 | 16.11 |
| 70+ | 19.54 |
| all ages | 10.34 |
American Academy of Pediatrics: Children and COVID-19: State Data Report Version 8/19.21
While the number of hospitalized adults is beginning to fall, the number of children is rising:
Salemi USF: COVID-19 in Florida Hospital Admissions by Age
Hospital Utilization is also tracked by the HSS. 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 August 27, 2021, 85% of hospital beds were occupied in Florida, with over one-fourth by Covid patients:
Over half of ICU beds in use in Florida are occupied by Covid patients:
HHS: Inpatient Bed Utilization by State
Many hospitals are publishing their own occupancy statistics. For example, Tampa General Hospital released this on August 27th:
Tampa General : Hospital Bed Availability for COVID-19 Patients
I am exceedingly grateful to have discovered that Dr. Jason Salemi from the University of South Florida has been maintaining a database of information available from the Florida Dept of Health since May 28, 2021. He has a wealth of information available on his site:
Redemptive History and Theology 