Sunday COVID-19 update for Florida: Almost 10,000 current hospitalizations

A day after Florida recorded the most new daily cases in more than a year, hospitalizations in the state now have spiked to numbers not seen since the pandemic began to peak last year.

Florida leads the nation in per capita hospitalizations for COVID-19 as hospitals around the state report having to put emergency room visitors in beds in hallways in addition to medical staff documenting a noticeable drop in the age of patients.

Current hospitalizations, one of the most indicative statistics of a pandemic’s wax and wane, neared 10,000 Saturday in Florida, according to the most recent data reported by U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.

Those numbers said 9,683 adults and 114 children, a total of 9,797 people in Florida hospitals, are confirmed to have COVID-19. Including those suspected of having COVID with those confirmed, there are 10,091 adults and 120 children for a total of 10,211.

Those are numbers that compare to a year ago, when the pandemic was starting to peak. A week ago, total hospitalizations in Florida sat at 7,391.

New case and death numbers weren’t reported Sunday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an agency under Health & Human Services.

The Associated Press reported Sunday that the Health & Human Services data stated that Florida had 10,207 people hospitalized with confirmed COVID-19 cases on Saturday.

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Florida is now leading the nation in per capita hospitalizations for COVID-19, as hospitals around the state report having to put emergency room visitors in beds in hallways and others document a noticeable drop in the age of patients.

In the past week, Florida has averaged 1,525 adult hospitalizations a day, and 35 daily pediatric hospitalizations. Both are the highest per capita rate in the nation, according to Jason Salemi, an associate professor of epidemiology at the University of South Florida.

The hospitalizations and increasing cases have come as the new, more transmittable delta variant has spread throughout Florida, and residents have returned to pre-pandemic activities.

Saturday, the state of Florida reported more new COVID-19 cases to the Centers for Disease Control than any previous day in the coronavirus pandemic: 21,683.

That was a 12.1% jump over the previous record, Jan. 7’s 19,334 cases during the worst month of the pandemic. Daily case counts routinely surpassed 10,000 as the pandemic peaked a second time. In the succeeding months, daily case counts returned to 2,000 and 8,000.

By comparison, on the last day that the state released COVID numbers on a daily basis — Thurs., June 3, 2021 — there were 1,878 new confirmed cases of COVID-19 and 1,792 people hospitalized and the state’s percent positivity had decreased from 3.33% to 3.15%.

The very next day, the state announced that it will no longer update its COVID-19 dashboard that tracked the number of cases and deaths in the state. Its daily COVID-19 cases and vaccine reports also stopped. The state said it would, instead, post weekly reports on Fridays, Florida Department of Health Communications Director Weesam Khoury told the Miami Herald.

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South Florida vaccinations and hospitalizations

The CDC rated the level of community transmission in each Florida county as “high.”

▪ In Miami-Dade County, 1,665,812 people, 61.3% of the total population, have completed their vaccination regimen. The positive testing rate over the last seven days is 13.55%, a rise of 1.43%. New hospitalizations have risen 34.1%.

▪ In Broward County, 1,009,598 people, 51.7% of the total population, are vaccinated fully. The positive test rate over the last seven days is 16.85%, a rise of 2.61%. New hospitalizations have risen 35.14%.

▪ In Palm Beach County, 756,065 people, 50.5% of the total population, have completed their vaccination regimen. The positive testing rate over the last seven days is 19.53%, a rise of 4.08%. New hospitalizations have risen 29.38%.

▪ In Monroe County, 44,008 people, 59.3% of the total population, are vaccinated fully. The positive testing rate over the last seven days is 18.04%, a rise of 5.77%. New hospitalizations have risen 66.67%.

South Florida hospitals see rise in young patients as COVID resurgence gains steam

Manatee County

Up in Manatee County, 187,359 people, 46.5% of the total population, are vaccinated fully. The positive testing rate over the last seven days is 19.86%, a rise of 3.38%. New hospitalizations have risen 78.18%.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the source of statistics that came from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.