The delta variant has been ripping through the state of Florida, infecting swaths of unvaccinated Americans, said Mary Mayhew, CEO of Florida Hospital Association, according to USA Today. This has led to an overwhelmed hospital system in the state.
Is COVID-19 bad in Florida?
Data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services found that there were 11,515 people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Florida as of Tuesday — which is a new peak for the pandemic in the state.
- Hospitals in Jacksonville and Orlando broke their pandemic peaks. Similarly, hospitals in the greater Miami area are nearing their pandemic records, according to USA Today.
Florida health officials said they’ve seen a small number of vaccinated COVID-19 patients, including some with underlying conditions like cancer or an autoimmune disease.
- “We have peaked above any previous wave and it is straining our system, our physicians and all of our clinicians,” said Neil Finkler, chief clinical officer of AdventHealth’s Central Florida division, according to USA Today.
Are COVID-19 hospitalizations up?
But this isn’t only a Florida problem. Hospitalizations due to severe COVID-19 are rising across the country, nearing the levels set in summer 2020, the Deseret News reported.
- Across the country, more than 51,000 people are hospitalized because of the novel coronavirus. Most of these cases are among the unvaccinated, per Axios.
How to stay safe from COVID-19
Still, experts recommend people get the coronavirus vaccine so that they don’t end up hospitalized because of COVID-19.
- New data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that about 99.999% of fully vaccinated people who had a breakthrough COVID-19 case were not hospitalized or killed from the infection, which I wrote about for the Deseret News.