The Florida Department of Health (DOH) has once again changed the method of reporting COVID-19 data, and the latest revision shows what experts call an “artificial decline” in the number of deaths across the state.
Until three weeks ago, the information collected by the Ministry of Health calculated the number of deaths based on the date of record. But on August 10, the state switched to calculating the new death toll based on the date of individual death, which may cause delays in reporting because these deaths need to be evaluated and the certificate needs to be processed first.
Although these figures will be updated as they become available, the new reporting method effectively creates a peak in which the downward trend was previously recorded and also promptly promoted the downward trend.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), it released the data recorded by the DOH, and each jurisdiction can choose how to report COVID deaths. Florida is one of 12 states that record new deaths by date of death.
Shivani Patel, a social epidemiologist and assistant professor at Emory University, told Miami herald The current changes indicate that there has been an “artificial decline” in the number of deaths recently.
Patel has no explanation for this sudden change. He is concerned that “it looks like we are doing better than we are now”, especially considering the shocking increase in COVID hospitalizations and deaths in Florida in recent weeks.
The health department has not yet acknowledged or provided the background of the report change, but said it has cooperated with the CDC to resolve data discrepancies.
Ministry of Health did not respond Weekly newspaperSolicit opinions before publishing.
“The public, scientists, national policymakers, or the media should not be allowed to guess what these numbers are,” Patel told reporters. Herald“We knew from the beginning that dates are important. They tell us different things.”
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This is not the first time the Department of Health has made unannounced changes to the way it reports state coronavirus indicators.
As early as June, the department discontinued its COVID-19 dashboard and changed to weekly reports instead of providing daily data to the public.
Although data from DOH indicates that the number of COVID deaths in Florida has declined, the hospital morgue tells a different story.
The mortuary of the health system was overcrowded due to the spare parts of the local funeral home, and was forced to order a portable mortuary to help store more dead bodies.
Last week, Advent Health’s department in central Florida confirmed that its 10 campuses are using freezers.
“With the surge in critically ill patients in our hospitals, we are cautiously preparing for the increase in death toll and investing resources when necessary to provide additional capacity,” the health system Told before Weekly newspaper.
