WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday reported Florida had 15,322 additional daily coronavirus cases and 16 more deaths in revised data one day after the state's Department of Health disputed its information.
Also Tuesday, the state broke the record again for hospitalizations at 15,169 though the vaccination rate has reached 71.1%, just 0.1% behind the U.S., for adults with at least one shot. For weeks, the state was significantly below the national average.
On Monday, the CDC reported 56,633 infections over two days and divided it into two days for a record 28,317 and 28,316, surpassing the previous mark of 23,903 Friday. But that night the state agency posted on Twitter: “The number of cases @CDCgov released for Florida today is incorrect. They combined MULTIPLE days into one. We anticipate CDC will correct the record.”
The CDC had counted the data for two days instead of three. For several Mondays, the CDC didn't reported any information and had three days' worth on Tuesdays.
In the revised totals, the CDC says the total cases' increase is 56,393, including 21,487 Saturday and 19,584 Sunday. On Monday, it said the two-day total was 56,633. And for further confusion, the state in a tweet listed the three-day total as 56,386. The cumulative total is 2,782,060.
The CDC also revised totals from past days, including listing the record Friday now as 23,958, which is 55 more than the previous figure.
And deaths underwent more dramatic revisions.
Wessam Koury, a spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Health, told the South Florida Sun Sentinel cases or deaths were revised to when they occurred vs. when they were reported to the state. Often, it takes several days from when person dies to when it it recorded to the state.
In the data Tuesday, the CDC said deaths increased by 54 over three days, including 17 Saturday and 21 Sunday. On Monday, the state didn't dispute fatality totals. In Monday's report by the state, the increase was 239 for two days.
With the change in reporting methods, there were difference Friday with the CDC than the state's weekly report on Friday, which showed 39,694 deaths. The CDC has a figure of 40,113.
The most updated cumulative figure is 40,167, in fourth place behind California, New York and Texas, with a total of 277 over seven days. On Monday, the CDC had the weekly figure as 791. The state report had the weekly increase as 616. Deaths reached as high as 1,358 weekly (194 daily) on Aug. 3.
The CDC lists 40,010 deaths through last Wednesday, taking 14 days to rise more than 1,000. It was 30 days for the previous 1,000-plus.
Florida, which is the third-most populous state in the nation with 6.5% of the population, accounted for 16.6% of the 92,361 new cases on Monday. Overall, the cumulative cases are 7.7% of the 35,991,203 total, according to the CDC data.
Deaths were 3.6% of the 449 rise in the U.S. In all, Florida represents 6.5% of the total 615,778 deaths. Through Monday, Johns Hopkins reported 35,948,131 cases and 616,493 deaths.
For weeks, Florida has had the most daily deaths and cases in the nation. Florida had 30% more weekly deaths and 62% more deaths than No. 2 Texas.
Florida's total tests are 33,856,911 with 433,373 in the past seven days of 61,910 daily. Florida's record was 149,038 on Jan. 26, when there were many state-run sites around the state. New York reported the most tests at 610,139.
The state ended daily reports on June 4, when COVID-19 was waning, with the state no longer reporting county fatality totals. Also, cases and deaths totals that include nonresidents no longer are being reported. At the time the reports were scrapped, there were 43,535 cases and 744 deaths of nonresidents.
In the past week, the state reported 134,506 additional residents' cases, rising by 21.4%. The two-week increase is 245,340.
Also, the weekly first-time daily positivity rate surged to 18.9% one week after 18.1. The CDC lists the weekly rate as 19.53% on Monday. The daily record was 23.38% on Dec. 28.
In state vaccination data from the CDC, 71.1% of Florida's population 18 and older has had at least one dose and 59.6% fully vaccinated. Florida passed 70% on Friday, becoming the 21st state in the nation to reach that milestone. President Joe Biden had set a nationwide goal of 70% vaccinated by July 4 with at least one dose by adults, and the current figure is 71.2%. Totally vaccinated is 61.2%.
For those 12 and older in Florida, 68.9% had at least one dose and the complete series is 57.1%. Only people 12 and older are allowed to receive the vaccine.
For the total population, the percentage is 60% for one shot (12,892,048) and the complete series is 49.7% (10,684,883).
Hospitalizations have been increasing dramatically to 15,169 compared with 13,971 the day before and 4,262 on July 10 with the record until recently 10,179 on July 23, 2020, according to data from the U.S. Department of Health. Of the 231 hospitals reporting, 27.62% are occupied with COVID-19 patients and 84.91% (47,436) with all patients of the 55,865 total beds. The day before 251 hospitals reported data.