75% of Jacksonville hospital beds full before influenza patients arrive

JACKSONVILLE, Florida – Public health experts and hospital administrators are monitoring hospital bed capacity more closely as cases of COVID-19 increase and flu season begins.

As of Tuesday afternoon, the Health Care Administration Agency reported that 3,780 people are hospitalized in Florida with a primary diagnosis of COVID-19. Of these, 211 were in hospitals in Duval County. Data shows that 25% of regular and intensive care beds are available in Jacksonville hospitals.

News4Jax found that UF Health had 28 hospitalizations related to COVID-19 two weeks ago and 30 now. There are 75 people hospitalized with COVID-19 between Baptist Health’s five hospitals, with seven patients in ICUs.

The added threat of flu season this year has prompted the creation of FluVaxJax, which is pushing for more flu shots in adults to keep people healthy and ensure local hospitals aren’t overwhelmed.

Joshi says the city’s FluVax Jax program should eventually hit its target, with at least 48% of adults getting vaccinated. Joshi said he didn’t want a recently announced COVID vaccine to overshadow concerns about the flu.

“We’re definitely on track to hit that 48% and, if we continue to the clip where we’re going, we should hit it in early January,” Joshi said. “I think we have to be careful because we are coming to the holidays. People are forgetting the importance of the flu vaccine, especially the COVID vaccine, which will be released in the coming months. So the flu shot takes over and that would be the wrong approach.

Joshi says local epidemiologists will be on the lookout for an increase in COVID-19 cases one to two weeks after the Thanksgiving holiday.