JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – It hasn’t shown up in the data we’re getting from the CDC yet, but Gov. Ron DeSantis said during a Tuesday visit to Jacksonville he’s been given information that this area may be seen its summer peak for COVID-19.
“The seven-day average for Duval County has decreased 18% since July 31. The emergency room visits for Duval County for COVID-like illness over the past week have decreased by 14%,” DeSantis said after handing out $1,000 checks to police officers at the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office. “We are happy with seeing those trends and we think they will likely continue.”
Because the state only releases coronavirus data on cases, hospitalizations and deaths to the public weekly, we only know from the federal government shows the number of new cases in the state continues to rise, with the seven-day moving average of new cases up to 20,058.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention that the state had 14,787 confirmed COVID-19 patients in hospitals Monday -- up 173 from the day before and 145% of the state’s previous peak last July. Of those, 188 were pediatric cases -- up nine from the previous day.
RELATED: COVID-19 hospitalizations spike in Florida
According to the Florida Hospital Association, 89.7% of intensive care beds in the state are full.
Jacksonville hospitals also show the number of people hospitalized continues has steadily risen since mid-July and they are setting records each day for the most COVID-19 patients of any point in the pandemic. UF Health Jacksonville -- the only hospital reporting virus deaths -- says 24 patients died in the first 10 days of the month.
Doctors are telling News4Jax the situation is getting worse, not better, but DeSantis said what he’s seeing will be reflected in the numbers soon.
“These indicators I just talked about seven-day average cases, COVID-like visits, TR-values. Those are leading indicators that will later be reflected in the hospital census,” DeSantis said. “So if you have a decline in emergency room visits or cases, you are not necessarily going to see an immediate (decrease) in the hospital census. It usually takes about seven to 10 days.”
After DeSantis spoke, even Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry expressed caution about the future.
“The data he said suggests that you’re going to see a plateau and decline in hospitalizations. But what’s happening right now is: hospitals are busy nurses and doctors administrators are incredibly busy,” Curry said. “I am in communication with the leaders of these hospitals. There’s a lot of stress and a lot of pressure,” Curry said. “But backing up what the governor said, I’m not heard that they’re asking us or the governor for any resources they can’t get.”
In line Tuesday morning at the Duval County Health Department to get a COVID-19 test, Johnny Williams, who just had a friend die of the virus, had a message for DeSantis: “Governor, this stuff is killing us down here in Florida. Come down here and take the test, stand in line, help us.”
Those in need of testing did get some good news Tuesday: Five additional free testing sites will open in the city as early as later this week. Jacksonville City Council could approve spending $4 million in federal COVID relief funding to pay for three additional sites contracted with the city and the two more run by the Duval County Health Department.
The new sites will ask for an insurance card, if you have one, but will never charge the patient for the test.
FULL STORY: Locations, times for additional free COVID-19 testing sites
The additional testing sites are good news for people like Jerry Pascal While, who was standing in line at the Health Department when an ambulance was called for someone waiting for a test who had a medical emergency.
“I feel they should have more people doing the testing so the line won’t be too long and I could just go in and get it,” White said.
:strip_exif(true):strip_icc(true):no_upscale(true):quality(65)/d1vhqlrjc8h82r.cloudfront.net/08-10-2021/t_ee1ceb3f02204f2f8654ff8ea5dc66cc_name_image.jpg)
"peak" - Google News
August 11, 2021 at 04:31AM
https://ift.tt/3s5yiEP
Has Jacksonville seen its peak of COVID-19 cases? - WJXT News4JAX
"peak" - Google News
https://ift.tt/2KZvTqs
https://ift.tt/2Ywz40B
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Has Jacksonville seen its peak of COVID-19 cases? - WJXT News4JAX"
Post a Comment