FL’s COVID death toll has reached the 50,000 mark; only two other states have higher numbers

Florida’s COVID-19 death cases rose to the 50,000 threshold in September, illustrating the breadth of residents who died in a pandemic that continues to ravage older and younger people in the state.

Only California and Texas have had higher numbers of deaths, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The three states are the only ones in the country that have exceeded the 50,000 mark for COVID-19 deaths. The counts for death cases span from early March 2020 to mid September 2021, though California had a few cases beginning in late January.

Because the CDC uses more than one analysis in calculating death cases, it wasn’t quickly evident that Florida had reached the 50,000 mark.

For example, one analysis this week still showed Florida deaths below 50,000. But Thursday, two CDC data sheets showed 50,811 COVID deaths in Florida.

Also, one analysis showed that Florida actually had reached the 50,000 mark in early September.

Keep in mind that the number of deaths is not the same as the death rate in the country. The CDC also calculates deaths per 100,000 people.

In that analysis, Florida ranks 12th among all 50 states, plus Washington, D.C., and New York City.

New York City has the worst death rate, followed by New Jersey, Mississippi, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Arizona, Rhode Island, Alabama, Arkansas, Connecticut, South Dakota.