Florida and Texas account for over 30% of COVID deaths in the United States in the past three months

Florida and Texas have been responsible for more than 30% of COVID-19 deaths in the United States since mid-June, bringing the national toll to more than 700,000.

The United States reached its latest grim milestone in just over three months, raising the death toll from 600,000 to 700,000 on Friday. During that time, Florida and Texas recorded the highest number of coronavirus deaths in the country as the Delta variant ravaged both states.

The virus has killed an estimated 17,000 residents in Florida since mid-June, while more than 13,000 deaths have been reported in Texas. Together, the two states make up 15% of the U.S. population, but more than 30% of the total deaths during that time period, according to the Associated Press.

Both states are ruled by Republican governors who have vehemently rejected COVID-19 warrants for masks or vaccinations. Among other things, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis threatened local governments with fines if they tried to impose vaccination warrants, while Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued an executive order imposing sanctions on local officials. which initiate mask requirements.

On Saturday, a spokesperson for the DeSantis office defended Florida’s response to the coronavirus and instead blamed President Joe Biden’s leadership.

“Last year Joe Biden promised Americans that if elected president he would“ stop the virus. ”But 8 months after Biden’s presidency began, so far the national COVID death toll for 2021 has exceeded the total COVID death toll for 2020. Why is the national media focusing only on Texas and Florida, when the majority of COVID deaths have occurred in other states, and Biden is the president from across the country? ”said the spokesperson for DeSantis. News week.

“Today, Florida has one of the lowest COVID infection rates in the country, and the Delta surge has diminished significantly without imposing any warrants or blockages,” they added.

News week also contacted Abbott for comment, but did not receive a response in time for the post.

Florida and Texas now average more than 200 deaths from COVID-19 per day, according to data from The New York Times. Throughout the summer, both states experienced some of the highest national rates of cases, hospitalizations and death. However, in the past two weeks, Florida and Texas have each seen their number of cases drop by at least 30%, with hospital admissions falling by at least 22%.

On average, more than 6,000 people are now hospitalized daily in Florida, while more than 10,000 are hospitalized in Texas.

Dr David Dowdy, an infectious disease epidemiologist at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said on Friday that at least 70,000 of the last 100,000 deaths in the United States were among unvaccinated people.

“If we had been more efficient in our vaccination, then I think it’s fair to say that we could have avoided 90% of these deaths” since mid-June, Dowdy told the AP. “It’s not just a number on a screen. It’s tens of thousands of those tragic stories of people whose families have lost someone who matters to them.”

In total, daily deaths in the United States are on average around 1,900 per day, with cases starting to decline from their initial September highs. However, health care experts have warned that the winter months could bring new outbreaks as people will be more inclined to socialize indoors.

“I still think this winter will likely see, in parts of the country, similar scenarios to what we saw in parts of the Southeastern United States this summer, where hospitals in some areas will be very full,” Stephen Kissler, a researcher at Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, said in an interview earlier this week.