Hospitals

states say they are worried about their health care systems becoming crushed as infections surge.

But Florida, with 4,341 people hospitalized midday Saturday with a primary diagnosis of COVID-19, still remains far below its summer crisis point.

The state reached a pandemic high of 9,508 hospitalizations on July 21, according to the Agency for Health Care Administration. The figure dropped to as low as 2,011 on Oct. 19, records show.

The number stood at 2,589 four weeks ago and has been steadily climbing, just as new cases have spiked. Florida tallied at least 10,000 new cases on Saturday for the third day in a row.

Yet hospital emergency rooms are also seeing fewer people show up with COVID-like illness as compared with the spike five months ago.

For the week of July 5, there were 16,036 visits to hospital ERs. There were 6,817 visits during the week of Nov. 22, the most recent information available from the state health department.

In South Florida, hospitalizations are up in the past month in Broward, Palm Beach and Miami-Dade counties. MiamiDade hospitals had 340 COVID19 patients in beds on Nov. 7; the number was 759 at noon Saturday

With the region seeing a rise in both new cases and hospitalizations, Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava on Friday called together South Florida government and hospital leaders to send “an urgent and united message” to the community.

“We’re gravely concerned about overwhelming our health care system, and capacity to care for covid patients,” said Levine Cava, who on Nov. 30 announced she had tested positive for the virus. She called on the public to wear masks, practice social distancing and keep up with good hygiene.

“If we push our system to the limit, when covid cases spread too quickly we will be at a breaking point,” the mayor said during the session streamed online.

Carlos Migoya, the president and CEO of Miami-based Jackson Health System, said hospital staffing is “the biggest challenge” these days, mainly because temporary nurses are already working in other states.

“We have at least 30 to 45 days of challenging times ahead of us and we cannot afford to get to the kinds of numbers we had in South Florida back in July, because even though we have the beds, we may not necessarily have the staff,” Migoya said.

Broward County has experienced a nearly 53% increase in COVID-19 hospitalizations the past four weeks, rising from 287 patients to 439. Palm Beach County is up 74.3% over the same period, going from 148 patients to 258.

However, Palm Beach County recorded a 9.5% decrease in the past week, data show.

The state Agency for Health Care Administration, which tracks capacity in hospitals, reports there currently is enough room to treat people with the disease.

Figures show statewide available hospital capacity is at 24%, with 21% of intensive care unit beds available on Saturday. South Florida hospitals have similar room.

Since the pandemic began, 56,317 residents have been hospitalized for the disease, according to the state health department.