Florida is now topping its worst COVID-19 infection and hospitalization numbers of the pandemic
The Florida Hospital Association reported 10,389 COVID-19 hospitalizations on Monday, the highest statewide number of the pandemic, two days after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Florida had registered more than 21,000 new coronavirus infections on Friday, the state's highest one-day total. Florida's previous hospitalization record, set July 23, 2020, was 10,170, the hospital association said.
The Delta variant is driving the sharp uptick in COVID-19 cases in Florida and across the U.S. Florida accounts for roughly 20 percent of new U.S. cases.
About 95 percent of hospitalized COVID-19 patients are unvaccinated, says Mary Mayhew, chief executive of the Florida Hospital Association. And with the age of sick COVID-19 patients dropping amid the Delta surge, "we have to convince 25-year-olds, 30-year-olds that this is now life threatening for them," she told MSNBC's Morning Joe on Monday. "That is not what they saw and what we experienced last year."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The average age of Floridians hospitalized with COVID-19 is now 42 years old, NBC News' Vaughn Hillyard reported Monday.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) and his representatives point to the lower age of infected Floridians as proof of the wisdom of getting the large majority of people 65 and older fully vaccinated first.
DeSantis "has been at the forefront of the Republican effort to find a middle ground between his party's stated opposition to measures aimed at containing the virus and keeping case totals low," and "he has been more vocal than many about the need for widespread vaccinations," Philip Bump writes at The Washington Post. "If there is a silver lining here, it's this: The surge in cases may be doing what DeSantis wasn't able to. Since June 21, the state has recorded an increase in daily vaccinations." Also encouraging is "the fact that — so far, at least — the increase in cases and hospitalizations hasn't led to significant increases in deaths," Bump adds.
But aside from the jump in vaccinations, Florida "is trending in the wrong direction in almost every other measurable COVID-19 category," Politico reports. "Last week, Florida reported 110,477 new cases, which is a nearly 600 percent increase from the 15,998 new cases reported just four weeks earlier. Over the past month, the statewide positivity rate has jumped from 5.3 to 18.1 percent," even as DeSantis "has maintained a strict 'no-mandate' approach" to COVID-19.
PBS spoke to one frustrated Miami-area doctor on Monday's NewsHour.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
The week's best photos
In Pictures Firing shells, burning ballots, and more
By Anahi Valenzuela, The Week US Published
-
Damian Barr shares his favourite books
The Week Recommends The writer and broadcaster picks works by Alice Walker, Elif Shafak and others
By The Week UK Published
-
The Great Mughals: a 'treasure trove' of an exhibition
The Week Recommends The V&A's new show is 'spell-binding'
By The Week UK Published
-
ACA opens 2025 enrollment, enters 2024 race
Speed Read Mike Johnson promises big changes to the Affordable Care Act if Trump wins the election
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
McDonald's sued over E. coli linked to burger
Speed Read The outbreak has sickened at least 49 people in 10 states and left one dead
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Long Covid: study shows damage to brain's 'control centre'
The Explainer Research could help scientists understand long-term effects of Covid-19 as well as conditions such as MS and dementia
By The Week UK Published
-
FDA OKs new Covid vaccine, available soon
Speed read The CDC recommends the new booster to combat the widely-circulating KP.2 strain
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Mpox: how dangerous is new health emergency?
Today's Big Question Spread of potentially deadly sub-variant more like early days of HIV than Covid, say scientists
By The Week UK Published
-
What is POTS and why is it more common now?
The explainer The condition affecting young women
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
Brexit, Matt Hancock and black swans: five takeaways from Covid inquiry report
The Explainer UK was 'unprepared' for pandemic and government 'failed' citizens with flawed response, says damning report
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Should masks be here to stay?
Talking Points New York Governor Kathy Hochul proposed a mask ban. Here's why she wants one — and why it may not make sense.
By Anya Jaremko-Greenwold, The Week US Published