Scott Powers
No state in the nation is coming close to experiencing the explosive surge in new COVID-19 cases that Florida has been seeing the past few weeks.
In the week ending last Wednesday, Florida saw 62,382 new cases emerge, according to data compiled and presented by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
That weekly total, presented in a national comparison, is almost twice as many new cases as seen in Texas during the same week, almost three times as many as California, and 20 times as many as New York.
The CDC presents COVID-19 case totals a couple days earlier than the Florida Department of Health presents its weekly COVID-19 reports, so weekly numbers on the national report differ from the state’s numbers. On Friday the state report offered an even higher seven-day total: 73,199.
The federal data is useful because it includes uniform reports submitted by all 50 states, so that they might be compared.
During the same seven-day period ending July 21 when Florida posted 62,382 new cases, Texas reported 25,640 newly-confirmed COVID-19 cases, the second-most in the country, and California, 22,406, the third-most. New York, which has both been faulted for its reporting methods and noted for having some of the strictest anti-pandemic policies, reported only 3,095 new cases, the country’s 26th-highest new caseload for the week.
Last week the number of new cases confirmed in Florida went up 59%, from the 39,349 reported for the previous week ending July 14. That total was up 109% from the 18,814 cases reported the week before that, which ended July 7. That total was up 59% from the 11,859 cases reported the week before that, which ended June 30. Each of those previous three weeks’ totals also was the highest in the country for those weeks.
By percentage increases, other states have lately begun to see faster rises than Florida’s. Michigan, Maine, Arkansas, Mississippi, Massachusetts, and Louisiana all saw their new case numbers double last week. Among them, only Louisiana, with 14,042 new cases, is anywhere close to seeing Florida’s total numbers.
Florida is one of only four states that have seen weekly new case totals more than quadruple over the past three weeks, from July 1-21. Arkansas, Louisiana, and Massachusetts have seen slightly more growth in caseloads in July. But none of them has anything close to Florida’s weekly case totals.
As he has began ramping up comments on COVID-19 and vaccinations in the past week, Gov. Ron DeSantis has sought to reassure Floridians that the Sunshine State is experiencing a seasonal rise. It’s to be expected, and not unlike what is being seen in other states, particularly in the hot South, DeSantis said.
The Governor also has expressed confidence that the two most serious indexes recording COVID-19, the numbers of deaths attributed to the disease, and the numbers of new hospital admissions attributed to the disease, are not rising significantly in Florida.
He is correct. The CDC report shows there has been no significant change in the numbers of people dying of COVID-19 in Florida from week to week this summer. The CDC does not include hospital admissions in its standard report.
Still, past COVID-19 surges showed that hospital admission numbers increased a couple weeks after caseloads surged, and deaths rose a couple weeks after that.
Regardless, the CDC reported more people dying of COVID-19 in Florida than in other states all summer.
The 239 COVID-19 deaths newly reported in Florida for the week of July 15-21 was the most in the country for the week, according to the CDC report.
So was Florida’s 230 fatality total reported for the week of July 8-14, its 184 death toll for the week of July 1-7, and the state’s 208 deaths reported June 24-30.
11 comments
Richard Thripp
July 25, 2021 at 7:08 pm
At this point the governor’s “Don’t Fauci My Florida” merchandise takes on a whole new meaning. Can we please Fauci our Florida now?
Phil Morton
July 26, 2021 at 6:56 am
The Governor’s infantile word games have done nothing to abate the crisis we’re now in and most likely contributed to it. We need an adult governor.
Tom
July 26, 2021 at 8:47 am
From the true hater Phil.
What did your lockdown states do for you or the peeps. Misery, crime, unemployment, distress, drug addiction and sad unfortunate suicides. America’s Governor won’t fall for that trap. Governor Ron is n sync with hard working Floridians. He had the masses support. Please Fauci lost all credibility months ago.
Elites like you can find joy in crisp or fraud getting 44%. Enjoy.
Kathy White
August 7, 2021 at 9:37 pm
Fauci is the one killing the world. His god and motivation is money and power. His narcissitic personality will not allow him to admit any wrong doing on his part. He belongs in jail. I agree with DeSantis “Don’t Fauci my Florida”!! Please get rid of the no good Harris/Biden Administration.
Ed
July 25, 2021 at 8:47 pm
Mask up and shut it down. Is that what you want Richard? No thanks from me. Been there and done that.
Matthew Lusk
July 26, 2021 at 10:54 am
It’s so much easier for the socialist to shut it down than burn it down. They will stick with the shut down economy model to wipe out middle class opponents. When the economy slides, taxes continue to rise whether it’s a direct tax, or inflation via debt spending. A pack of socialist dogs always eat your food till there is none left. The nature of a dog never changes nor do those who feed off the gravy of government corruption..
Matthew Lusk
July 26, 2021 at 11:09 am
Why are the Democrats letting in millions of unvaccinated refugees and busing them in a super spreader event? Most to Florida? Democrats have never given a rats a** about the health of anybody. Look at the artwork of Cy Twombly and you will know how Democrats think. It’s all about hatred of self and others…and mental illness.
Matthew Lusk
July 26, 2021 at 11:14 am
What good are summaries of data from people who are paid thousands of dollars for checking off the covid positive box for each medical chart on a patient. Is it any wonder a papaya will give off a false positive for covid? It’s called plausible deniability.
PeterH
July 27, 2021 at 9:06 am
Please don’t worry Ron DeSantis, Rick Scott or Marco Rubio with surging Covid infections and deaths in the State of Florida or the 700 tons of dead fish that continue to wash up on Gulf shores. Florida’s leadership is more concerned with Republican fund raising in Texas and California and wringing their collective hands on protests in Cuba.
Join authentic conservatives at the Lincoln Project and help us find new ways to completely destroy what remains of today’s GQP ….. so that it can be resurrected anew from the ground up with a vision instead of stupid.
Florida has become an international embarrassment!
Tom
July 29, 2021 at 6:46 am
Lincoln project is a joke.
You are deeply troubled being affiliated with them. Just a bunch of liberals who are happier with liberal Dems then conservative Repubs. Nothing like being corrupt.
Joseph
August 4, 2021 at 9:14 pm
Thank you for providing deaths by the week.
My only request is more information about the location of the deaths throughout Florida. I would like to know where most of the deaths occurred.
Is there a place that I could find out the breakdown of the deaths [age and health status)? Were they obese? Did they die from Covid or with Covid?
Thank you
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