Coronavirus cases are rising at an alarming rate across Florida as the delta variant races through the state, U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy warned on Thursday.
Murthy said that Florida has been left vulnerable to rising COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths due to pockets of the state with low vaccination rates.
The surgeon general called it an “all-in moment” for the nation as the coronavirus pandemic becomes a more regional phenomenon. Just three states — Florida, Texas and Missouri — accounted for 40% of COVID-19 cases reported this week, officials said.
“What concerns me the most about Florida is that cases are rising at an alarming rate, hospitalizations are going up, and deaths are going up. And it’s being driven by the Delta variant,” Murthy said in an interview with McClatchy.
“The challenge we have in Florida, and in far too many states, is we still don’t have vaccination rates high enough, and in some pockets, we have actually vaccination rates that are quite low,” he said. “And the consequence of that is that COVID is now spreading very quickly in those populations. So that’s what concerns me.”
Florida’s COVID-19 resurgence has been marked by a rapid rise in new infections statewide and a surge in hospital admissions in South Florida, Orlando and Jacksonville.
The number of new cases per week jumped from about 10,000 in mid-June to more than 45,000 in mid-July, according to the Florida health department.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 12,647 new COVID-19 cases in Florida for July 21 — a number of daily infections not seen in the state since late January. There were 8,988 cases reported on July 20. The seven-day rolling average of new cases in Florida also rose rapidly, from 1,839 on July 1 to 8,911 on July 21, according to the CDC’s data tracker.
Hospital admissions reported to the Department of Health and Human Services also show a dramatic rise, said Jason Salemi, an epidemiologist with the University of South Florida in Tampa.
The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 in Florida rose from 1,764 on June 19 to 4,100 on July 17, he said.
South Florida hospital administrators have reported that the vast majority of their patients admitted with COVID-19 are not vaccinated.
MASK DEBATE RESURFACES
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis recently urged state residents to get vaccinated.
But on Thursday he said he would fight the return of mask requirements, including for unvaccinated children going to school this fall.
“We look forward to this upcoming year to be a normal school year, be in person, and live like normal and learn like normal kids,” DeSantis said at a news conference at Indian River Community College. “There’s been talk about potentially people advocating at the federal level, imposing compulsory masks on kids. We’re not doing that in Florida, OK? We need our kids to breathe. We need our kids to be able to be kids.”
Asked about DeSantis’ comments, Murthy pointed to CDC guidelines for schools that wearing a mask for children, especially those who are unvaccinated, will help keep them safe and in school. “So I do think that masking for children in school is important.”
He said that communities with low vaccination rates and spiking cases would be “prudent” to adopt additional protective measures — such as masking — to slow the spread of the virus.
“Especially with a dangerous variant spreading, I think that those are very prudent measures for people to strongly consider,” Murthy said. “I certainly think that communities and counties, if they decide that they want to put some of these requirements in place and additional mitigation measures, I think that’s certainly within their right. Because communities know themselves best – they know what they’re seeing in their backyard.”
Vaccinations take “several weeks to kick in,” Murthy said.
“And so, if in the short term you want to slow the spread of the virus, mitigation measures like masking, like distancing, like washing your hands and ensuring you’re reducing time in indoor spaces — these are the measures in the short-term to prevent the spread,” he said.
In recent days, Biden administration officials have described the spread of COVID-19 as a “pandemic of the unvaccinated,” as nearly all hospitalizations and deaths are among those who have not taken one of the three coronavirus vaccines authorized in the United States for emergency use.
CDC Director Rochelle Walensky told reporters in a briefing that their recommendations “haven’t changed” that vaccinated individuals are protected from COVID-19 without wearing masks.
And while some fully vaccinated people are still testing positive for the virus, the numbers remain low relative to the millions of people who have received their shots, Murthy said.
The CDC is tracking these “breakthrough” infections closely, he said. So far, the agency has not identified any disparities along racial or ethnic lines in breakthrough infections.
“If they see that they’re happening at a greater percentage in a particular type of person, either age-based or based on their race and ethnicity, then they’ll also help guide us on how we should take additional precautions there,” Murthy said.
The federal government is standing up “surge response teams” comprised of epidemiologists and other government experts that will assist state and local officials in areas experiencing sharp increases in cases, Murthy said.
“This has got to be another all-in moment for our country, where even though we’re moving to more of a regional and local phenomenon when it comes to this spread of COVID-19 cases, we’ve still got to be there as one country for every region that is struggling. And that’s why you’re going to see these surge response efforts continue,” he said.
Miami Herald reporters Daniel Chang and Mary Ellen Klas contributed reporting.
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