The CDC reported 16,868 new cases of COVID-19 in Florida yesterday, and another 16,337 cases today, as well as 252 deaths between the two dates.
The highest single-day case count last summer was 15,166 on July 12, 2020, meaning Florida just broke its own record for a single-day increase in cases during the summer/spring/fall months.
July 21, 2021 is now the 20th highest single-day increase in cases since the pandemic started last year – the other 19 days were all in December/January 2020. July 22 is now the 24th highest single-day case increase.
Last summer was dubbed the “summer of death” because of the reckless reopening of the state followed by rampant spread of the virus.
12,018 Florida residents lost their lives just in the summer months after reopening last year – with the highest number of deaths occurring just two weeks after peak cases that summer.
The only difference is that now we have no idea what’s going on. Last month, Desantis forced the Department of Health to stop updating all of the data feeds I set up for them in March of 2020. No more nursing homes data, schools data, prisons data, detailed demographic data, zip code data, community data, nadda.
And while Ron Desantis started selling merchandise with “Don’t Fauci Florida” slogans, and and Matt Gaetz proposed bills to fire the nation’s leading infectious disease expert, cases began rising in Florida- in large part to low vaccination rates, no mask mandates, and variants dominating the state’s new cases.
CDC variants data for Florida*:
B.1.1.7(Alpha)= 48.4%
B.1.617.2(Delta)= 13.4%
P.1(Gamma) = 18.1%
*Data represents sequencing of new case samples from July 10-16, 2021, which is the most recent report available by the CDC. Click here for source.
A recent piece shared by my friend Dr. Peter Hotez shared issued dire warnings about transmissibility, severity and vaccine-evasiveness of variants. The author details the crisis in Florida and how this entirely-predictable disaster unfolded. (FYI, Dr. Hotez is world-renowned pediatrician and vaccine researcher that both Desantis and his Nazi-spokesperson have both publicly attacked for warning folks about this exact thing).
Florida COVID-19 case rates over time. Source: https://joaquinlife.medium.com/part-3-delta-variant-hot-surge-summer-in-the-u-s-4fc7538bdc25
Here are a few key points about variants and vaccinations:
A Singapore study that is being submitted for international publication showed the following results for Pfizer and Moderna:
- 69 percent effective against infection regardless of symptoms
- 80 and 90 percent effective against symptomatic disease
- 93 percent effective against severe COVID-19 disease which includes requiring oxygen supplementation, ICU care, or death.
- Being fully vaccinated provides high levels of immune protection although lower than previous strains (e.g., Pfizer: 93% against Alpha, 88% against Delta) and much lower if partially vaccinated (e.g., AstraZeneca only 33% against Delta)
The Johnson & Johnson (J&J) vaccine continues to underperform compared to its mRNA counterparts.
Another study found results consistent with the previous study mentioned, but also looked at AstraZenaca, which is more similar to the J&J vaccine, for the period from 5 April to 16 May:
- 2 doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine were 60% effective against symptomatic disease from the B.1.617.2 variant compared to 66% effectiveness against the B.1.1.7 variant
- both vaccines were 33% effective against symptomatic disease from B.1.617.2, 3 weeks after the first dose compared to around 50% effectiveness against the B.1.1.7 variant
The big message: Get vaccinated. Soon. Both shots. Please.
We need to remember that children under 12 years old still are not eligible for vaccination – that includes my 11-year-old son, Jack, and my three-year-old daughter, Evi.
Hospitalizations of children are increasing with the Delta and Gamma variants, which are particularly good at infection and sickening children.
I still update the modern and classic versions of my website with the available CDC data each day. The sites have always been and will always continue to be free to the public, including all underlying data and archives. I made a promise to see this through, so that’s exactly what I’m going to do!
Florida has been among the worst states in the nation by case, positivity, hospitalization and death rates since last summer. Once President Biden took over and hired Andy Slavitt to run his data team, the White House began issuing weekly summary reports that showed rates of transmission and even ranked each state from best (#1) to worst (#50/52) for each reporting period.
For the last six months, Florida has averaged (based on rates per 100k):
#45 for cases
#46 for positivity
#44 for hospitalizations
#44 for deaths
Florida’s National Standing in COVID-19 Response:
I personally don’t believe we should be discussing economics when we’re talking about people’s lives and safety, but since that is an argument that Desantis and his corrupt administration have tried to make, let’s look at the economics for a second.
Florida Pandemic Economics:
- Florida ranks 3rd highest in percentage of children without enough to eat (12%);
- 4th highest in USA for percent of adults without enough to eat (11%)
- 3rd highest percent of population still behind in rent (21%)
- 11th highest percent of households reporting difficulty in “covering usual household expenses” (28%)
- 35th for unemployment based on filings;
Sources: https://www.cbpp.org/research/poverty-and-inequality/tracking-the-covid-19-recessions-effects-on-food-housing-and https://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/real-estate/evictions/os-ne-eviction-crisis-florida-covid-19-20210513-z4rgek7shfdnlo5uflczecvdv4-htmlstory.html
Our country should be making decisions based on sound science, not political posturing. I hope this information is useful and that you make safe decisions with the data that is out there, even if it’s now incredibly limited because of Desantis.
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