The Tampa Bay Times teamed up with health researcher Troy Quast from the University of South Florida to understand why there has been hundreds of unexpected deaths that have not been counted toward the tally of COVID-19 deaths within the state of Florida.
Based on analysis, the epidemic's death toll may be between 17 and 58 percent higher than public figures currently show. This higher projection is based on a spike of deaths caused by natural causes in Florida between March 22 and April 25.
As of current, Florida's health department counts just over 2,413 deaths from COVID-19. With the spike of recent unexpected deaths due to natural causes, it is believed that some such deaths may be due to unreported COVID-19 deaths. This spike has been noted because the analysis that Quast has conducted compares the number of deaths each week to the average number of death for that same week over the last six years, with population growth being accounted for.We welcome readers to submit letters regarding articles and content in Orlando Weekly. Letters should be a minimum of 150 words, refer to content that has appeared on Orlando Weekly, and must include the writer's full name, address, and phone number for verification purposes. No attachments will be considered. Writers of letters selected for publication will be notified via email. Letters may be edited and shortened for space.
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