Palm Beach County Reinstates COVID-19 State Of Emergency

PALM BEACH COUNTY, FL — With COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations surging, Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners unanimously voted to declare a local state of emergency at its Tuesday meeting.

Palm Beach County was previously under a local state of emergency from March 13, 2020 through June 26 of this year because of the pandemic.

The new state of emergency is in effect until Aug. 24 at 12:01 a.m. It can be extended or terminated by the commissioners at any time.

The more contagious “delta variant has caused a reversal in the downward trajectory of cases, a rapid rise in COVID cases and an alarming increase in hospitalization rates,” the state of emergency reads.

Transmission of the virus in Palm Beach County is considered high because more than 600 new cases were reported per 100,000 people in the county during the last seven days, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Florida Department of Health’s latest COVID-19 Weekly Situation Report for Aug. 6-12 says that 9,159 cases and a new case positivity rate of 17.8 percent reported during that period.

Commissioner Melissa McKinley proposed the state of emergency after discussing the shortage of hospital beds in the county.

All 12 ICU beds at the county’s only public hospital, Lakeside Medical Center in Belle Glade, were filled Tuesday — 11 of them with COVID-19 patients, WPTV reported.

"We do not have the resources available right now in our community to address the needs in certain parts of our community," McKinlay said.

The state of emergency declaration could allow the county to bring medical workers from other parts of Florida to help if coronavirus hospitalizations continue to surge, reports said. It also forces private health care facilities to publish real-time data on their hospital bed availability for COVID-19 patients.

In recent days, emergency COVID-19 patients had to be transferred to hospitals outside the county, including Miami and Orlando, The Palm Beach Post reported.

“What we have on our hands is a crisis. It’s a crisis that needs to be fixed,” Commissioner Maria Sachs said.