Florida Health Department Releases Weekly COVID Deaths and Cases; Miami-Dade County Tops the List with 12,824 Deaths
The Florida Health Department has begun releasing weekly data on COVID-19 deaths, cases, and vaccinations in the state. This marks the first time in 1.5 years that the agency has provided detailed information on these metrics. The decision to publish this data comes as part of a lawsuit settlement between the Florida Center for Government Accountability, former Representative Carlos Guillermo Smith, and the health agency, which requires the publication of detailed COVID data over a period of three years.
Previously, the state had been providing biweekly reports on COVID cases and deaths since June 2021, following a switch from daily reports. However, the new weekly data now includes breakdowns by race, ethnicity, and sex, as well as information that can be displayed by year, month, and week. It is worth noting that the website no longer includes the total number of deaths and cases, unlike the previous reports.
According to the latest data, there have been a total of 91,893 COVID-related deaths among residents statewide. This represents an increase of 303 deaths over a two-week period, with 126 deaths occurring within the past week. When broken down by county, Miami-Dade County has the highest number of deaths with a total of 12,824, followed by Broward County with 7,112, and Palm Beach County with 6,428. On the Treasure Coast, St. Lucie County has recorded 1,505 deaths, Martin County has recorded 842, Indian River County has recorded 830, and Okeechobee County has recorded 214 deaths.
In terms of COVID cases, there have been a total of 7,838,616 cases among residents statewide. Over the past week, there were 5,771 new cases, which is the lowest weekly count since May 26. In 2023 alone, there have been 515,179 new cases, bringing the total number of cases in each year to 1,317,419 in 2020, 2,934,038 in 2021, and 3,071,980 in 2022. It should be noted that the state’s figures may not include results from home tests.
In terms of vaccinations, a total of 22,178,462 doses have been administered in Florida. The new website provided by the Florida Health Department no longer lists positivity rates, and as of May 11, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) no longer lists weekly cases, testing, or transmission data. However, CDC still reports provisional COVID-19 deaths through the National Center for Health Statistics, along with hospitalization numbers.
It is important to highlight that the number of deaths and cases in Florida is significantly lower than during the peak of the pandemic. The highest weekly death count was 2,468 on September 17, 2021, and the highest daily death count was 434 on August 27, 2021, during the delta variant surge. Similarly, the highest weekly case count was 407,379 on January 19, 2022, and the highest daily case count was 76,618 on January 8, 2021, during the omicron surge.
For updated state and CDC data on COVID-19, including deaths, cases, and hospitalizations, individuals can visit wptv.com/coronavirus. The Florida Health Department’s release of weekly COVID data aims to provide transparency and valuable information to the public regarding the ongoing pandemic in the state.
