Thread by @DrEricDing

⚠️DISTORTING DEATH TREND—Florida changed how it reports #COVID19 deaths. Result? Fewer recent “new deaths”. While deaths looks like going “down”—in actuality—deaths are going up in the more common reporting method, by taking advantage of delays. Lowdown—🧵
sun-sentinel.com/coronavirus/fl…

2) “Just as a highly contagious new delta variant sent Florida into a vicious COVID-19 surge, the state Department of Health changed the way it reports cases and deaths attributed to the virus.
The result: Florida no longer provides a real-time picture of how COVID is impacting”

3) The most dramatic example is that Florida’s daily death count had been trending upward since the end of June, but with the recent adjustments, the number of deaths due to COVID appeared to decline dramatically over the past week. At least on paper. ⚠️

3) “Experts say the downward trend is not at all what’s really happening with COVID deaths in a state that continues to set records for the growing number of daily COVID cases and hospitalizations.” sun-sentinel.com/coronavirus/fl…

4) COVID tracker created by The New York Times shows as of Aug. 10, Florida recorded a seven-day average of 141 deaths from the virus, a figure larger than 32 other states.

5) In contrast, according to the website maintained by the @CDCgov using the information provided by the state Department of Health, Florida’s seven-day average as of Aug. 10 is only about third of that — 58 deaths.

➡️CDC is playing into DeSantis’s hand.

6) meanwhile, what happens when you ask for health data from Florida? “REQUEST DENIED”

https://twitter.com/cathynottoday/status/1426540724145770504

7) ICUs are near zero in large swaths of the Deep South because of #DeltaVariant surge. Pray nobody has to visit the hospital for any major emergencies. Worried for those needing ICUs for other surgeries.

https://twitter.com/gregggonsalves/status/1426607823434170374