Clay, Duval and Nassau counties at ‘tipping point’ as COVID-19 cases rise

JACKSONVILLE, Florida – Debbie Bundy is usually the first on the dance floor. For years, she taught line dances at a Jacksonville sports bar.

But, for the past week, she has been at Memorial Hospital in Jacksonville, on the COVID-19 floor, sometimes having trouble breathing.

“God has me in his hands,” Bundy said. “I know God can fix this, but I don’t understand why anyone has to go through this.

While in hospital, Bundy wore a non-invasive ventilation mask all the time. Over the weekend, she received convalescent plasma from a cured patient. She takes blood thinners to prevent clotting. But the hardest part is isolation, she said.

“It’s hard not to see people and talk to them, especially my family,” Bundy said. “It helps when I look down and they have their big banners. It cheers me up.

Over the weekend, more than a dozen new patients were hospitalized in Duval County for reasons related to COVID-19. The number of coronavirus cases in Jacksonville since the start of the pandemic surpassed 40,000 on Saturday. So far, 569 people have died in Duval County after five more deaths were reported on Monday.

The Florida Department of Health reported 6,587 new cases statewide on Sunday. State health officials have reported more than 7,000 new cases daily for five consecutive days, starting November 18.

Florida could hit a total of 1 million cases early next week.

Researchers at the Harvard Global Health Institute have released a map showing several counties in northeast Florida, including Duval, Nassau, and Clay counties, in the red. The researchers defined the red zone as a “tipping point” if case rates were 25 or more cases per 100,000 people in the population, suggesting stay-at-home orders were needed.

Dr Juan Pulido, pulmonologist on the COVID-19 floor of Baptist Medical Beaches, says the number of COVID patients admitted to hospitals is increasing daily, but says hospitals in Jacksonville are still not near peak levels that ‘they saw in July.

Data from the Florida Health Care Administration Agency reported more than 400 hospitalizations related to COVID-19 in Duval County in July. The number of COVID hospitalizations had fallen to 112 by the end of October and climbed back to 196 on Monday.

“Unfortunately, as more patients with COVID arrive, they experience a wide variety of illnesses of different severity: some with mild symptoms, others with more severe symptoms. In intensive care, we have had more admissions requiring more oxygen and unfortunately more patients requiring mechanical ventilation, which is life sustaining, ”said Dr Pulido. “We’re very careful and very concerned about the numbers and doing our best to stay prepared and stay on top of the curve as best we can.”

Bundy said his motivation for getting better was his grandchildren.

Her family have found the perfect spot in the parking lot that allows her to wave from her hospital room, where she is likely to be for the Thanksgiving vacation.

“They need me. They all miss me and try to hurry and improve for them, ”Bundy said.