Florida COVID update: 1,338 more fatalities. Average daily reported deaths reaches record high
Florida on Thursday reported 21,723 more COVID-19 cases and 1,338 additional deaths to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to Miami Herald calculations of CDC data.
All but 38 of the newly reported deaths, about 97%, occurred after Aug. 5, according to the Herald analysis. About 70% of the newly reported died in the past two weeks, the analysis showed. The majority of deaths happened during Florida’s latest surge in COVID-19 cases, fueled by the delta variant.
In the past seven days, on average, the state has added 325 deaths and 19,902 cases each day, according to Herald calculations of CDC data. This is a record high for the death average.
The jump in the number of reported cases and deaths is due to the newest way deaths and cases are counted. The CDC implemented the change in early August, causing occasional one-day aberrations like the 902 additional deaths on Monday and 901 more deaths reported Aug. 26.
In all, Florida has recorded at least 3,291,225 confirmed COVID cases and 45,909 deaths.
BEHIND THE STORY
MOREThe Herald publishes the number of new COVID-19 cases and deaths reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention after each update by the agency.
On Aug. 10, the Florida Department of Health changed the way it reported new cases and deaths to the CDC. Cases and deaths used to be logged as total new cases reported on a single day. Now, Florida is reporting cases by the “case date,” according to the CDC, rather than the date the case was logged into the system. The result of this change is a lag in cases by date and a number of cases back-filling over time.
The Herald will continue to report the difference in total cases and deaths from one day to the next in stories about daily new cases and deaths, as this is consistent with the way data have been presented in daily stories since the beginning of the pandemic.
More information
The Herald is calculating new cases using the difference between cumulative total of cases and the total from the previous day, as pulled daily from the CDC trends data. New deaths are calculated the same way.
As a result, the “new cases” and “new deaths” listed on the CDC site for any given day may be different than numbers published by the Herald for the same day.
According to a statement from CDC spokesperson Jasmine Reed on Aug. 18: “Florida’s aggregate case and death data includes case date for cases and date of death for deaths. The method applies data shared by Florida and to data displayed on COVID Data Tracker. Other States also use this reporting method and states can vary in the reporting method. For example, data as of the date that states submit may be the date that a state received its data from its reporting entities, or it might be another dating method that the state prefers.”
DOH spokesperson Weesam Khoury said Florida’s new reporting system “will ensure that continuous epidemiological analyses provide the most updated data to the public.” Neither agency provided further explanation of how a “case date” is assigned to each new case.
Florida COVID-19 vaccine rates
As of the Thursday report, 11,468,372 eligible Floridians — 53.4% of the state’s population — had completed the two-dose series of Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna, or have completed Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose vaccine, according to the CDC.
COVID-19 VACCINES IN SOUTH FLORIDA
The CDC reports that all of the state’s 67 counties have a high level of community transmission of COVID, as of Thursday. Here’s how many people have been fully vaccinated in South Florida, according to the CDC.
▪ In Miami-Dade County, about 1,832,217 people, or 67.4% of the county’s total population, are fully vaccinated.
▪ In Broward County, about 1,108,996 people are fully vaccinated, or 56.8% of the county’s population.
▪ In Palm Beach County, about 816,395 people are fully vaccinated, or 54.5% of the county’s population.
▪ In Monroe County, about 46,833 people are fully vaccinated, or 63.1% of the county’s population.
▪ In Manatee County, about 200,987 people are fully vaccinated, or 49.8% of the county’s population.
COVID-19 hospitalizations in Florida
There were 14,949 people hospitalized for COVID-19 in Florida on Thursday, according to data reported to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services from 255 Florida hospitals. That is 228 fewer patients than Wednesday’s COVID patient population.
COVID-19 patients accounted for 25.89% of all hospital patients.
Of the hospitalized in Florida, 3,340 people were in intensive care unit beds, a decrease of 25. That represents 50.22% of the state’s ICU hospital beds from 255 hospitals reporting data.
Thursday’s Miami-Dade County report said there were 1,397 COVID patients in the county’s hospitals on Wednesday, a decrease of 21 from the previous day’s report. Of the 116 new COVID patients, 96 (82.7%) had not been vaccinated.
Broward County’s Thursday report said there were 1,344 COVID patients in the county’s hospitals, a decrease of 26 from Wednesday’s patient population.
A previous version of this article incorrectly stated the seven-day average of new COVID cases in Florida. The story has been updated to reflect that in the past seven days, on average, the state has added 19,902 cases each day.
This story was originally published September 2, 2021 at 1:54 PM with the headline "Florida COVID update: 1,338 more fatalities. Average daily reported deaths reaches record high."
%20Cropped%20(2).jpg)
