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How are different age groups affected by COVID-19 in PBC?

by Les Wilson

Heard often on social media: “How does COVID-19 affect me? Am I toast?” In our BocaFirst COVID-19 Tracker project, we have sought to cull useful data from trusted sources and visualize them in accurate, truthful and meaningful ways. Some are quick to understand while others take some staring at.

A few readers recently asked about the effects of COVID-19 on different age groups in our area. We did some digging and found a Florida Department of Health webpage that offered information about all confirmed cases in Florida (both resident and non-resident). In addition to county and gender demographics, they also provided the age for each case. So we sorted and tallied the numbers.

JUNE 13 PBC Case distribution by age group
JUNE 13 PBC Case distribution by age group

Breaking it down by age

The total number of reported cases depends greatly on where and how much you test. Counts of positive tests by themselves may not mean much. However, in the FDOH data, there was also the following information for each confirmed case:

  • The date of the positive test
  • Age group
  • Hospitalization?
  • Death?
  • Emergency Department (ED) visit?

We narrowed the data to Palm Beach county and categorized the cases by age group. Then we sorted them by the date the test was taken. Since some cases had “UNKNOWN” or “NA” for the information, we tallied only those with “YES” for Hospital, ED Visit etc. The graphics below show how the different age groups were affected between March 1 and June 13 in terms of ED Visits, Hospitalizations, and Deaths.

In reading the graphics, it’s important to bear in mind that there is a delay between the test date and the event (ED visit, hospitalization etc).


COVID-19 affect on age groups?

NOTES: 
• Some tests may not have had the death, ED Visit or hospitalization event yet. Therefore data for the period after June 1st is designated incomplete. 
• A 7 day moving average is used to even out the fluctuations of daily reports.
• The data used is from June 13.

OVERALL

Cases in PBC and their distribution by age groups
Total cases as of June 13 in Palm Beach County and their distribution by age groups

Deaths by age group March 1-June 13

PBC tests resulting in death by age group. Dates are the test date NOT the event date. Given the delay between test and the event, data in the graphic for the most recent 10 days is marked as incomplete. Data is provisional and may change.
PBC tests resulting in death by age group. Dates are the test date NOT the event date. Given the delay between test and the event, data in the graphic for the most recent 10 days is marked as incomplete. Data is provisional and may change.

ED Visit by age group March 1 – June 13

PBC tests resulting in an Emergency Department visit by age group. Dates are the test date NOT the event date. Given the delay between test and the event, data in the graphic for the most recent 10 days is marked as incomplete. Data is provisional and may change.
PBC tests resulting in an Emergency Department visit by age group. Dates are the test date NOT the event date. Given the delay between test and the event, data in the graphic for the most recent 10 days is marked as incomplete. Data is provisional and may change.

Hospitalizations by age group March 1 – June 13

PBC tests resulting in hospitalization by age group
PBC tests resulting in hospitalization by age group. Dates are the test date NOT the hospitalization. Given the delay between test and hospitalization, data in the graphic for the most recent 10 days is marked as incomplete. Data is provisional and may change.

For more information

The BocaFirst COVID-19 Tracker has an assortment of graphics. The Florida Department of Health has a web page that lets you explore current data in various ways. It’s updated daily. Click the screen shot below to go there and select the “Cases by Zipcode” tab along the bottom.

Florida COVID-19 - Cases by Zip Code
Florida COVID-19 – Cases by Zip Code

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