Florida has reported 9,000 COVID-19 deaths related to long-term care

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. Florida passed another troubling milestone this week when it surpassed more than 9,000 coronavirus-related deaths of residents and staff of long-term care facilities, with the vast majority of seniors living in nursing homes and assisted living.

The state added a further 156 COVID-19-related deaths statewide to data released by the Florida Department of Health on Saturday. According to state data, more than 25,500 Florida residents and visitors to the state have died from the virus.

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

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

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

The number of cases and deaths has escalated during the fall and winter.

Gov. Ron DeSantis has pinned its COVID-19 strategy to vaccinations, targeting people 65 or older who are facing specific health risks from the virus. During a performance Friday on Fox News, DeSantis praised giving at least the first doses of vaccines to nearly 1 million seniors.

‘We said seniors first. This is something we need to focus on, the population of 65 and over, ”said DeSantis. “There are young, healthy workers who get it in other states. God bless them, but I want to protect our vulnerable. “

But vaccine supplies remain limited, and seniors still make up the majority of people who die from the virus.

As of Friday’s census, 20,797 of the deaths among Florida residents were 65 or older. That accounted for 83% of total deaths – a percentage that has remained relatively unchanged for months.

Long-term care deaths are also another indicator of the toll the pandemic continues to take on seniors.

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

Since the outbreak began, there have been at least 70,000 hospitalizations attributed to the novel coronavirus in Florida, and the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration reported 6,707 hospitalized Saturday afternoon with the primary diagnosis COVID-19 – instead of 7,367 . people at the beginning of the week.

At least 1,328,175 vaccines have been administered in Florida, with 151,447 people in the state receiving both needed injections, but some vaccination sites have had to close because they used up their allotted amount and there is ongoing frustration from those eligible and that have not done so. be able to make an appointment for a recording.

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

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Florida had 46 confirmed cases of the more transmissible strain of COVID-19 as of Sunday, eclipsing California with 40 confirmed cases at last count. The species was first discovered in the UK in December and is starting to spread worldwide.

Early evidence suggests that the new species is no more deadly than previous species that sickened nearly 24.2 million in the US 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, which means more people are getting infected,” says Dr. Frederick Southwick, a professor of medicine and an infectious disease specialist at the University of Florida. “If we had a problem, now we’ll have a bigger problem.”

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

“The game plan is the way it was: vaccinate as many people as you can, as soon as possible, try to really fight this virus and drop the total number of cases, hospitalizations and deaths,” said Dr. Glenn Morris, Director of the Emerging Pathogens Institute at the University of Florida.

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