Florida reported 9K COVID-19 deaths related to long-term care

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Florida went through another troubled stage this week, when it surpassed 9,000 coronavirus-related deaths of residents and staff in long-term care facilities – the vast majority involving the elderly in nursing homes and care facilities.

The state added another 156 state-related COVID-19 deaths in data released Saturday by the Florida Department of Health. More than 25,500 Florida residents and visitors to the state have died from the virus, according to state data.

In general, Florida has the fourth largest number of COVID-19 deaths in the country, behind New York, California and Texas, according to a Johns Hopkins University website that tracks pandemic data.

Among the deaths reported Saturday in Florida were five in St. Louis County. Johns (151 in total), four in Putnam (96) and three in Bradford (35). Duval County reported the most deaths in the 11 counties that News4Jax tracked in Florida with 863.

Florida reported another 12,311 cases Saturday, bringing the state’s total to 1,639,914 since the pandemic began last year.

The number of cases and deaths increased in autumn and winter.

Governor Ron DeSantis based his COVID-19 strategy on vaccinations, focusing on people aged 65 and over who face certain health hazards caused by the virus. During an appearance on Fox News on Friday, DeSantis supported the administration of at least the first doses of vaccines to nearly 1 million seniors.

“It simply came to our notice then. This is something we need to focus on, the population over 65, ”said DeSantis. “There are young and healthy workers who receive it in other states. God bless them, but I want to protect the vulnerable. ”

But the supply of vaccines remains limited, and the elderly continue to train most people who die from the virus.

As of Friday, 20,797 of Florida’s resident deaths involved people 65 and older. This accounted for 83% of all deaths – a percentage that has remained relatively unchanged for months.

Long-term care deaths are also another indicator of the tax that the pandemic continues to place on the elderly.

With an additional 85 long-term care deaths reported Friday, the total reached 9,097 – or about 36 percent of the state’s total resident deaths. As another indicator, more than 100 long-term care deaths have been reported in 26 of the state’s 67 counties since the pandemic began.

There have been at least 70,000 resident hospitalizations attributed to the new coronavirus in Florida since the outbreak began, and the Florida Agency for Health Administration reported 6,707 people currently hospitalized on Saturday afternoon with a primary diagnosis of COVID-19 – down from 7,367 people at beginning of the week.

At least 1,328,175 vaccines have been given in Florida, with 151,447 people in the state receiving both necessary shots, but some vaccination sites have had to close because they have run out of money and there is continued frustration among people who are vaccinated. qualify and who were not able to get a meeting for a shot.

But officials are trying to step up coronavirus vaccinations, and concerns are spreading about a new, more contagious variant that could gain a foothold in the state.

The Federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Florida has 46 confirmed cases of the more transmissible strain of COVID-19 as of Sunday, eclipsing California with 40 confirmed cases in the latest issue. The strain was first detected in the United Kingdom in December and began to spread globally.

Early evidence seems to indicate that the new strain is no more lethal than previous strains that killed nearly 24.2 million people in the United States and killed more than 400,000. Florida is now approaching 1.6 million confirmed cases, with nearly 10,000 new cases and about 160 additional deaths reported Tuesday. To date, the state has reported more than 24,400 virus-related deaths.

“This new strain is more contagious, and that means more people will become infected,” said Dr. Frederick Southwick, a professor of medicine and infectious disease specialist at the University of Florida. “If we had a problem, now we would have more problems.”

Communities across the country are battling the rise in infections as they wait for more doses of two vaccines approved for use against the virus.

“The game plan is what it has been so far: vaccinate as many people as possible, as soon as possible, try to really trample on this virus and give up the total number of cases, hospitalizations and deaths,” said Dr. Glenn Morris, director of the Institute for Emerging Pathogens at the University of Florida.

The Florida Associated Press and News Service contributed to this report.