Doctors working in the intensive care unit of a Florida hospital emphasized that the highly contagious COVID-19 Delta variant is “more aggressive” than previous strains.
Dr. Wallace Thomas of Larkin Community Hospital in the Miami area told NewsNation Now on Thursday: “It’s as fast as a cheetah. People who are 50 years old come here and die in two or three days.”
Many patients in the hospital’s ICU (where every bed is used) are young. According to NewsNation, most people are on ventilators, even those who do not have difficulty breathing.
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“We still cannot guarantee that if someone comes to the intensive care unit, they will leave the intensive care unit,” Thomas said.
“[One] This gentleman also contracted COVID, developed respiratory failure and became very drowsy,” he said. “He has been intubated for several weeks. “
In recent weeks, the Delta variant has caused a dramatic increase in COVID-19 cases in Florida and across the country.
On Tuesday, the Florida Hospital Association stated that 16,521 people were hospitalized due to COVID-19, while only 8.2% of ICU beds in the state were available.
The organization also predicts that more than 75% of hospitals in the state will face a “serious staff shortage” next week.
Mary Mayhew, president and chief executive officer of the association, said on Tuesday: “There is no doubt that many hospitals in Florida have reached their absolute limit.” “Although the number of hospitalizations continues to increase, three-quarters of Florida hospitals are expected to In the next 7 days, we will face a severe shortage of personnel, which has increased by nearly 10% since last week. Half of our hospitals will no longer accept referrals from other institutions.”
COVID-19 has also spread The entire Florida school system. As of Wednesday, nearly 1,500 students and more than 500 school staff have tested positive for the virus.
Some doctors criticized the governor of Florida Ron DeSantis‘Responding to the epidemic. DeSantis recently banned school districts from imposing masks on student teachers.
In a letter issued by the Committee for the Protection of Health Care last week, more than 800 doctors called on the governor to revoke the ban on wearing masks in schools and “take more measures to get people vaccinated.”
“As the virus spreads in Florida, health care providers believe that we are fighting this fire without the leadership of any Governor Ron DeSantis. To prevent communities from making local decisions to protect themselves, his top-down, one-size-fits-all The decree will only make things worse,” the letter said.
Larkin Community Hospital did not immediately respond from Weekly newspaper Friday morning.
