New Data Shows Growing COVID-19 Hospitalizations in Northeast Florida

JACKSONVILLE, Florida – As more frontline healthcare workers receive the vaccine in Jacksonville, more patients are contracting the virus.

Since Thanksgiving, the number of coronavirus patients in Duval County has increased to levels not seen since mid-August.

While intensive care and COVID-19 wards are not full in the region, wards are filling with more patients.

As of this Friday morning, in the five Baptist health establishments in the region, there were 111 cases, including 17 in intensive care. The Health Care Administration Agency reported on Friday afternoon that 272 patients had been hospitalized in Duval County due to a “primary” diagnosis of COVID-19.

Baptist Health’s Dr Elizabeth Ransom said the hospital was monitoring this very closely.

“We have the capacity and the capacity to manage this. We have enough PPE. We’ve been storing for months now so we feel great about it. And the best news is, as you said, that we are starting to vaccinate our frontline staff, ”Ransom said.

It’s the same at UF Health Jacksonville in two hospitals. There are 56 cases of the coronavirus and 12 people are in intensive care.

As more people in the community are tested, we have a better idea of ​​hospitalizations in Northeast Florida.

New data from the US Department of Health and Human Services gives us a weekly snapshot of the situation in hospitals that News4Jax has not heard about regularly.

For example, we now know that at the three Ascension St. Vincent hospitals in the region, during the seven days ending December 10, on average 96 COVID-19 patients and 29 ICU patients were combined.

At Memorial Hospital, there were an average of 25 patients with COVID-19 over the same period, including six in the intensive care unit.

Orange Park Medical Center had 36 patients including seven in intensive care unit while Flagler hospital had 26 people with COVID-19 and six in intensive care unit.

Although the numbers are concerning, doctors said people were improving.

“Fortunately, we are not seeing a big increase in the number of deaths, thank goodness, and we hope not,” Ransom said.