July 15, 2021 – Several hospitals in Florida are seeing a huge surge in COVID-19 cases, prompting at least one hospital to delay and cancel some elective surgeries.
Hospitals said most of the new patients are much sicker than those seen during the peak of the pandemic. The majority, health officials say, have the Delta variant.
Doctors said the recent outbreak of coronavirus cases is getting worse and they want local residents to take precautions because in many cases there are no longer mask or social distancing mandates around Florida.
At Baptist Health (Jacksonville, FL) the hospital beds are filling up with coronavirus patients. Local news reported that, as of Wednesday morning, 179 people were hospitalized and 33 were in the ICU, representing a 23% increase over Tuesday when 145 people were hospitalized.
UF Health Jacksonville is seeing a similar rise. In one day, the hospital saw a 15% increase in COVID-19 patients. It now has 70 patients with 20 in the ICU, and there are another 40 in the hospital suspected of having the coronavirus. UF Health has not canceled or postponed surgeries yet, but hospital officials say they are considering the option.