COVID-19 in Florida: What Is the Death Rate by Age Group?

florida covid-19 death rate

Getty People await COVID-19 testing in Florida.

COVID-19 cases have exploded in Florida. However, what is the death rate in Florida by age group? You can see a breakdown of the number of deaths by age group later in this article.

The state recently reported its highest number of test results received in a single day.

“Today, the Florida Department of Health (DOH) reported a record-high number of test results received in one day, in addition to a third-day decline in percent positivity of new cases. On July 11, 142,981 test results were reported to the state and 11.25 percent of new cases tested positive,” the State of Florida reported on July 11.

According to The Miami Herald, deaths are a “lagging indicator” of COVID-19 infections, “usually trailing new cases by several weeks to a month.” The Herald noted that Florida’s death statistics don’t include probable COVID-19 deaths like some other states.

According to the COVID Tracking Project, deaths in Florida from COVID-19 reached their highest peak in early May before dipping and now starting to rise again. “With a population of 21 million, Florida now has more new cases per day than any other US state, including two other larger states with major outbreaks, Texas (population 29 million) and California (population 40 million),” that site notes.

“Back in April, things looked very different. By April 15, Florida had confirmed just over 22,500 cases of COVID-19, while in the pandemic’s early epicenter, New York had confirmed almost 215,000 cases.”

The State of Florida also releases detailed daily statistics of Florida COVID-19 deaths here. It includes the county, whether the person had recent travel, and whether they were a Florida resident. Here is what the statistics show:


COVID-19 Death Rates in Florida

State of FloridaCoronavirus statistics from Florida

The problem with calculating death rates is that the only known pool is the number of positive cases. However, there are almost certainly more positive cases in the state that are not known or are even asymptomatic; thus, the death rate would certainly be lower, even far lower, if those unknowns could be calculated into the overall pool of cases. Thus, the numbers below represents deaths out of reported cases, which is the best known data available.

Here’s the data by age group for the State of Florida:

0-4 years old: 4,211 cases, 91 hospitalizations, and 0 deaths. (0% death rate)
5-14 years old: 9,026 cases, 69 hospitalizations, 2 deaths. (.022% death rate)
15-24 years old: 43,166 cases, 446 hospitalizations, 11 deaths. (.025% death rate)
25-34 years old: 55,097 cases, 1,143 hospitalizations, 24 deaths. (.044% death rate)
35-44 years old: 43,336 cases, 1,714 hospitalizations, 86 deaths. (.19% death rate)
45-54 years old: 41,085 cases, 2,458 hospitalizations, 178 deaths. (.43% death rate)
55-64 years old: 32,712 cases, 3,206 hospitalizations, 398 deaths. (1.21% death rate)
65-74 years old: 19,058 cases, 3,511 hospitalizations, 868 deaths. (4.55% death rate)
75-84 years old: 11,148 cases, 3,188 hospitalizations, 1,186 deaths. (10.63% death rate)
85+ years old: 6,773 cases, 2,445 hospitalizations, 1,489 deaths (21.9% death rate)


Most COVID-19 Patients in Florida Are Florida Residents Who Had Contact With a Known Case

State of FloridaCoronavirus testing in Florida

The latest data provided by the state is as of July 11, verified as of July 12.

It says that 2,576,813 people have been tested for COVID-19 in Florida. Of those tests, 269,811 were positive, 2,304,196 were negative, and 2,806 were inconclusive. Another 2,096 were awaiting testing.

Of those testing positive, all but 3,692 were Florida residents.

Only 2,875 had traveled. Far more, 73,889 people, had contact with a known case.

According to the State of Florida, the number of cases per day is on the rise, reaching a high of 15,299 on July 11.
The median age of cases was 38, down from the day before but up slightly from June 28.

State of FloridaCoronavirus Florida stats

The data shows that laboratory testing in the past two weeks is way up, with 142,981 tests on July 11 compared to 87,062 on July 10 and 41,644 on June 28.

The percent of positive cases has declined in recent days, with 11.25% of tests coming back positive on July 11 compared to 13.72% percent on June 28.

Who is getting sick?

Those ages 25 to 34 make up the largest category, with 21 percent of tests. Second is those 35-44 with 16%. Slightly more women are testing positive than men.

Most deaths in residents and staff of long-term care facilities – 551 – have been reported in Dade County, which has 26% of the state’s total of 2,100 such coronavirus deaths.

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