ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The Florida Department of Health says that it has now determined that a 2-year-old boy from Escambia County did not die from a COVID-19-related illness.
After the young boy's death was removed from the latest state line list from the DOH Thursday, 10 Tampa Bay reached out to the state for clarification.
The health department responded saying "It has been determined that the death was not COVID-19 related."
On Wednesday, the report listed his death. At the time, that would've made him the youngest person known to have died of COVID-19 in Florida.
The child lived in Escambia County; his case was counted as COVID-related on March 30. However, this entry was not made until the Department of Health's report on Sept. 16.
His death was not travel-related and there was no contact with a known case, the report read.
Rebekah Jones, who was ousted from the Florida Department of Health because of information, first tweeted about the child's death. She has maintained she was let go after being asked to manipulate coronavirus numbers on the state's real-time dashboard.
The boy's death did not appear listed in the Florida Department of Health's latest pediatric report. It currently shows there have been zero COVID-related deaths between 0-4 years old.
In August, a 6-year-old girl from Hillsborough County was reported to be the youngest person to die from complications of the virus in Florida.
There have now been eight children ages 17 and younger who have died from coronavirus complications since the pandemic began.
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