Florida Coronavirus Related Deaths On The Rise

From the Florida Phoenix: By Diane Rado - April 17, 2020

The COVID-19 death toll is at 591 as of Wednesday morning, almost twice the number just a week ago.

The Florida Department of Health data, which the Florida Phoenix has been analyzing, shows that the big South Florida counties of Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach are not the only counties where coronavirus deaths have occurred.

Overall, 43 counties — about two-thirds of Florida’s 67 counties — have at least one death case in several regions, from a swath of north Florida counties to the central part of the peninsula.

A dozen counties have 10 deaths or more. They are: Polk, 10; Sumter, 11; Pinellas and Duval, 14; Sarasota, 16; Orange and Hillsborough, 18; Manatee, 19; Lee, 20; Broward, 92; Palm Beach, 105, and Miami-Dade, 146.

Here are the two dozen counties that so far have no deaths: Alachua, Calhoun, Columbia, Dixie, Franklin, Gadsden, Gilchrist, Gulf, Hamilton, Hardee, Hendry, Holmes, Jackson, Lafayette, Leon, Levy, Liberty, Madison, Nassau, Okeechobee, Taylor, Union, Walton, Washington.

The average age of deaths is 75.4, according to the Phoenix analysis, with more men than women dying of COVID-19.

The span of coronavirus deaths in Florida show a 101-year-old woman and a 28-year-old man. More than 80 percent of the deaths are Flordians age 65 or higher.

The nearly 600 deaths in Florida are substantially lower, per 100,000 people, compared to states such as New York, New Jersey, Louisiana, Connecticut and Michigan. That data comes from the New York Times, which is tracking coronavirus deaths around the world.

As to COVID-19 infections, the state health department reported 22,081 on Wednesday morning, up from 21,628 Tuesday evening.

This story was originally published by the Florida Phoenix. For more stories from the Florida Phoenix, visit FloridaPhoenix.com.