Heliobas Disciple
TB Fanatic
Florida sets coronavirus record with 10,000 new cases; Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa cited as hot spots
Florida reported more than 10,000 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, a grim single-day record for the state that surpassed the previous high of more than 9,300 infections less than a week ago. And …
www.orlandosentinel.com
Florida sets coronavirus record with 10,000 new cases; Jacksonville, Orlando, Tampa cited as hot spots
Naseem S. Miller
By Naseem S. Miller
Jul 02, 2020 at 8:06 PM
Florida reported more than 10,000 new coronavirus cases on Thursday, a grim single-day record for the state that surpassed the previous high of more than 9,300 infections less than a week ago.
And in more bad news, Jacksonville – where the GOP convention is slated to be held next month – is the fastest-growing metro area in the nation for coronavirus cases, followed by the Orlando and Tampa metro areas, according to an analysis based on data from Johns Hopkins University.
The 10,109 coronavirus cases Thursday bring the state’s total to 169,106, with 67 new fatalities raising the death toll to 3,617.
During a press conference with Vice President Mike Pence in Tampa on Thursday, Gov. Ron DeSantis was asked if he takes any responsibility for Florida’s skyrocketing coronavirus numbers. He didn’t answer the question and instead cited the state’s low death rate.
“Well, do you give credit for Florida for having much lower fatalities per 100,000 than all the states you just praised?” DeSantis responded to a reporter who asked about Florida and other Southern states’ case numbers compared with the Northeast.
“We have fewer fatalities than some of those states have just in nursing homes,‘' he said. “And we’re more populated than all of those. So we’ve worked very hard to protect the most vulnerable ... and I think that the numbers bear that out.”
Although the number of deaths in Florida have stayed relatively stable since June, experts say the growing number of cases is not without consequences, even if it’s affecting a higher percentage of younger adults who are more likely to beat the infection without needing hospitalization.
“It’s unlikely that older people won’t be affected by all these young people getting COVID-19,” said Dr. Mary Jo Trepka, professor and chair of the department of epidemiology at Florida International University. “Also, we haven’t seen the effect on mortality from the cases we have now. It’s going to be several weeks before we see if deaths remain low, but I think they will go up, because some of those young people right now are in intensive care.”
Meanwhile, although the proportion of younger people with COVID-19 is growing, the number of older adults with the infections hasn’t stopped increasing.
There was almost double the number of cases in the 65- to 74 year-old age group reported last month, compared with all of March, April and May.
“Those are the people that we are worrying about getting hospitalized and potentially dying from COVID and that’s my concern with what we may be seeing over the next few weeks,” said Dr. Cindy Prins, assistant dean for educational affairs and clinical associate professor of epidemiology at University of Florida College of Public Health.
And there’s no guarantee that young people are immune for dire outcomes from a COVID-19 infection.
Local doctors say that they see more young people in the hospital and intensive care units compared with the start of the pandemic.
“We still have patients that come in there are elderly or patients with comorbidities, but from an overall perspective, half of our patients tend to be younger than 50, 55, which wasn’t that way before,” said Dr. Eduardo Oliveira, executive medical director for critical care services at AdventHealth. “That’s why I would reiterate the point that young people will get sick with this and very much sick.”
Central Florida hospitals have been reporting a steadily increasing number of COVID-19 patients in their general beds and intensive care units in recent weeks. They say they still have enough capacity and better ability to care for them and they have better tools and knowledge in treating the patients. But they’re watching the numbers closely.
“We’re able to keep up with the volume so far but obviously as [the numbers] continue to increase, it starts to become a concern,” said Dr. Antonio Crespo, medical director of Orlando Health Infectious Diseases.
In Orange County, 324 people were hospitalized, with 68 in the ICU as of Tuesday evening, according to the latest data shared by the county health department officials.
The day before, 290 people were hospitalized and 64 of them were in the ICU.
In Seminole County, 110 patients with COVID-19 were hospitalized as of Thursday, an increase of 31 patients from a week ago and a jump of 18 from Monday.
Lake and Osceola counties have not shared their hospitalization numbers, and the state does not publicly report the data.
The state on Thursday reported 584 new cases in Orange for a total of 11,458; 155 in Seminole for 2,837; 153 in Volusia for 2,372; 185 in Osceola for 2,349; and 98 in Lake for 1,508.
If Orange County’s current social distancing practices continue as they are, there could be more than 3,600 cases a day here by July 19, according to projections by PolicyLab at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
Seminole County’s daily count can reach to more than 800 cases a day by then and Osceola to more than 500. The model doesn’t have projections for Lake County.
Alan Harris, Seminole County’s emergency management director, called the rapid rise in positive coronavirus cases over the past week “very alarming” and “very concerning.”
He said the current rise in cases can be linked to the Memorial Day weekend and the week after, when most people had time off from work and attended gatherings without taking precautions, such as social distancing and wearing masks.
“We’re hoping that people make the right choice this weekend and do the right thing,” Harris said. “We want to slow the spread, and medical experts have told us how to do that and also keep the economy moving: It’s wearing facial coverings or masks. It’s hand washing. It’s staying at home if you’re sick. It’s social distancing. And facial coverings and masks are now widely touted as the key to the whole thing.”
The model also projects that counties throughout Arizona, Texas, and Florida will not be able to quickly flatten the spike in cases they have experienced in recent weeks, despite new masking recommendations and restrictions on bars and restaurants.
“During a heavy travel season, the absence of a strong national response, including a nationwide masking mandate, will continue to threaten the viability of our economy and the ability of our schools to reopen in the fall, while depleting and surpassing available health care resources to care for the sick,” said Dr. David Rubin, director of PolicyLab at CHOP in a statement.
At the press conference in Tampa on Thursday, Pence acknowledged what he called “this outbreak in Florida,” and said he and President Donald Trump supported DeSantis’ efforts to combat the rise in cases.
“We’re all in this together,” Pence said. “We have been from the beginning. ... We can beat this moment. We can slow the spread [and] flatten the curve in Florida just as we’ve flattened it in other parts of the country.”
He also said “we’re excited about coming to Jacksonville” and that he thinks the growing number of cases in Florida can be brought under control before the planned Republican National Convention in Jacksonville next month, when Trump plans to accept the nomination to run for president again.
.