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Emergency services strained in Pinellas County
Dan Matic Reports
ST. PETERSBURG, Florida – At least one hospital in Pinellas County has made an emergency request for ventilators as hospitals are overrun with COVID-19 patients.
Pinellas County officials say emergency systems are severely stretched due to the spike in COVID-19 cases caused by the rapid spread of the delta variant.
Hospitals are also experiencing a shortage of intensive care beds, officials said on Tuesday.
Pinellas County EMS medical director Dr Angus Jameson said this week brings the highest level of hospitalizations they have seen in the past year and a half.
As of Tuesday morning, 16% of people who take a COVID-19 test in Pinellas County are positive for the virus.
Meanwhile, 30% of all 911 calls in the county are linked to COVID, with unvaccinated people between the ages of 20 and 39 being the most affected.
FOLLOWING: Florida Sets New COVID-19 Hospitalization Record, Surpassing 14,700
Dr Jameson says 40 or 50 ambulances in the county have to wait up to an hour every day to unload their patients because hospitals don’t have enough beds at some point.
“The rapid increase and the fact that we have more patients requiring medical attention from COVID, than at any time before during this entire pandemic is straining EMS and hospital systems,” said Dr Jameson.
The county says the good news is that more and more people are receiving their vaccines. The numbers increase for those 12 and over; 65% received at least one injection in Pinellas County and 57% received both doses.
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