Florida remains nation’s hotspot for COVID cases, hospitalizations

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Florida had the astir caller cases of COVID-19 successful the federation implicit the past 7 days and has the highest complaint of hospitalizations per 100,000 people, according to a New York Times analysis of authorities and national wellness data.

Florida besides led the federation successful per capita play cases, with 733 caller cases per 100,000 colonisation -- 3.5 times the nationalist mean of 205 -- according to Johns Hopkins University. The summation successful cases is adjacent higher successful Northeast Florida, led by 1,484 cases per 100,000 implicit 7 days successful Columbia County -- the fourth-largest summation of immoderate region successful the federation and treble the state’s already precocious average.

With a play mean of 16,086 COVID patients successful Florida hospitals, the authorities has the highest per capita complaint of hospitalizations -- 75 per 100,000 colonisation -- according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the lone authorities with much than 25% of inpatient beds assigned to COVID patients.

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Duval County is averaging 123 COVID-19 hospitalizations per 100,000 population. That represents 1 of each 813 residents successful Jacksonville hospitalized with COVID-19.

Baker averaged 117 hospitalizations per 100,000, Nassau averaged 116, St. Johns was astatine 112, and Clay was astatine 108. Those 5 counties ranked among the nation’s 10 highest rates of hospitalization per capita, according to the New York Times.

“But I deliberation that doesn’t truly archer the picture,” Dr. Chirag Patel of UF Health said Wednesday. “The representation is however galore of those radical that are being tested for COVID oregon showing up arsenic positive. We’re astir 20% successful Duval County, and what’s much frightening is each of the pediatric cases that we person tested implicit the past week astatine UF Health, 30% are coming backmost positive.”

In the latest information from CovKid Project, 1,210 of Florida’s hospitalized patients are property 19 oregon nether -- the highest hospitalization complaint for children successful the nation.

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Sixteen of those children connected Wednesday greeting were astatine Wolfson Children’s Hospital -- 4 of them successful intensive care, according to the latest information from Baptist Health.

“We talked astir successful the past, kids are much resilient and debar contracting COVID. We are not seeing that being the lawsuit anymore: 30% of kids being tested astatine UF Health are coming backmost affirmative for COVID,” Patel said.

Hospitalizations successful Northeast Florida look to person peaked a week agone astatine the highest levels since the pandemic began, but the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention expect that hospitalizations successful some Florida and Georgia volition proceed to rise.

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