New data show growing COVID-19 hospitalizations in northeast Florida

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – As more and more healthcare workers receive the vaccine in Jacksonville, more and more patients come with the virus.

Since Thanksgiving, the number of coronavirus patients in Duval County has risen to unseen levels since mid-August.

While the ICU and COVID-19 wards are not full in the area, the wards are full of more patients.

This Friday morning at the five Baptist Health units in the area, there were 111 cases with 17 in intensive care. The healthcare agency reported on Friday afternoon that 272 patients were hospitalized in Duval County due to a “primary” diagnosis of COVID-19.

Dr. Elizabeth Ransom of Baptist Health said the hospital is following this very closely.

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

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

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

New data from the US Department of Health and Human Services gives us a weekly picture of the situation at hospitals News4Jax did not find out regularly.

For example, we now know that at the three Ascension St. hospitals. Vincent in the area, for the seven days ending on December 10, an average of 96 COVID-19 patients were combined with 29 patients in intensive care.

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

Orange Park Medical Center had 36 patients with seven in intensive care, while Flagler Hospital had 26 people with COVID-19 with six in intensive care.

While the numbers are a cause for concern, doctors said people are getting better.

“Fortunately, we do not see a significant increase in the number of deaths, thank God, and we hope we will not do that,” Ransom said.