Florida Breaks COVID-19 Hospitalization Record for Second Day in a Row: Most Unvaccinated

According to data provided by the country’s Ministry of Health and Social Services, in Florida, 11,863 people are hospitalized with the COVID-19 virus. This is the highest number of people hospitalized since the start of the pandemic. The second highest figure was awarded yesterday.

Of the more than 11,000 hospitalized, 2406 are in intensive care. Currently, 40 percent of the state’s intensive care beds are occupied, so there is no concern about the ability to take on new patients.

What worries at the moment is the rate at which cases are increasing.

“Last year, in 2020, it took us 60 days to go from 2,000 cases to 10,000. In 2021, in just 27 days we passed the peak of last year, the increase is dramatic,” said he indicated. Marie mayhew, President of the Florida Hospital Association, in dialogue with the United States National Press. Mayhew confirmed what has been said from the start: people hospitalized are younger than those who were hospitalized last year and the vast majority are not vaccinated.

In Miami-Dade County, the situation has yet to reach the extremes seen in 2020, but the situation is getting more complicated every day. According to the latest report submitted to the county by 25 of the 29 hospitals in the region, there are 1,421 people hospitalized with COVID 19, including 249 in intensive care.

87% of COVID patients in Miami-Dade hospitals are unvaccinated. According to medical experts, in the few severe cases of people vaccinated, there are usually underlying illnesses that further complicate cases.

In Florida, more than 10.4 million people have already received the two doses of the vaccine (or the Johnson & Johnson single dose), this implies that 49.1% of the total population is fully vaccinated.

In Miami-Dade the numbers are better. In the state’s most densely populated county, 75.6% of the total population has received at least one dose of the vaccine. The figure rises to 87.3 percent if we consider only people over 12 years of age, who are the ones who can be vaccinated. 100 percent of those 65 and over in Miami-Dade have received at least one dose of the vaccine. Considering the number of those who received both doses, 61.6% of the general population is fully vaccinated. This probably explains why the county with the highest number of Florida cases in the past is now better off than elsewhere in the region.

But beyond those who end up hospitalized, there are many new infected. People who have been vaccinated can become infected again, but it is difficult to develop severe cases. In Florida, which accounts for 6.5% of the nation’s population, 21.6% of cases were recorded this week nationwide, followed by California and Texas, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).

The state’s average of new cases per day, for seven days, stands at 17,628 new infections every 24 hours over the past week. If we compare them to data from a month ago, the increase is 800 percent.

The predominant variant is Delta, which is considered to be more severe and contagious than the previous variants.

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