FL Hospitalizations Surge As COVID-19 Delta Variant Spreads

TAMPA BAY, FL — The number of patients at AdventHealth's Tampa Bay hospitals has risen with the spread of the delta variant of the coronavirus, an epidemiologist said at a Thursday briefing.

The number of COVID-19 patients hospitalized across AdventHealth’s 30 hospitals in Central Florida jumped by about 100 during the past two weeks to about 310 as more people with cases of the delta, gamma and other variants of the coronavirus being admitted.

“The good news is that we are not seeing infection in patients who are fully vaccinated in the hospital,” said Dr. Vincent Hsu, executive director of infection prevention.

Across Florida, coronavirus hospitalization rates have surged in some Florida counties in the past seven days, including a 131.58 percent increase in Sarasota County and a 125 percent increase in Manatee County, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

Statewide, the CDC reported that Florida experienced a 61 percent increase in coronavirus cases this week compared to last week. As a result, Florida saw a 30 percent increase in hospitalizations from the coronavirus statewide.

Hsu said the delta variant, which mutated from the original COVID-19 virus and is now the dominant variant, is also infecting fully vaccinated people, though they are not typically sick enough to be admitted to the hospital.

With school starting in less than four weeks, Hsu and Dr. Michael Keating, chief medical officer for AdventHealth for Children, “strongly recommend” parents vaccinate any child who is 12 or older. The vaccine could become available to younger children later this year or in early 2022.

AdventHealth is also offering vaccines to all patients in the hospital.

Keating said that, unlike the adult population, the number of children hospitalized with COVID-19 has not increased recently. However, the risks of a potential COVID-19 infection far outweigh any potential risks associated with the vaccine, he said.

For example, Keating said the risk that a child would develop heart inflammation from the vaccine is about 1 in 10,000. The chances of a child developing severe complications from COVID-19 or spreading the virus to adults who could become gravely ill are far higher, he said.

He said the vaccine is the best protection.

“It doesn’t make you bulletproof against the COVID virus, but what it does is it basically puts Kevlar on you so that you’re not going to feel the full impact of the virus,” he said.

Hsu said it is still possible for the region and state to reach herd immunity if enough people become vaccinated.

“With variants, there are risks that the vaccine won’t be as effective, but even with delta, it’s still shown to have a significant protective effect,” he said. “It’s not too late.”

AdventHealth has submitted about 1,000 specimens from COVID-19 patients for testing with partners Helix, a population genomics company, and the Florida Department of Health. About half have turned up as variants of concern such as the delta and gamma variants, which are more contagious and potentially more fatal, said Dr. Steven R. Smith, AdventHealth’s chief scientific officer.

Smith said it’s important for the hospital’s clinicians to know which variants are present in the community because specific types of early interventional treatments such as monoclonal antibodies are more effective on certain strains.

He recommended that people who test positive for COVID-19 and have risk factors such as obesity, pulmonary disease or other immunocompromising conditions see their doctors for monoclonal antibody therapeutics, which are effective in keeping COVID-19 patients out of the hospital.

Dr. Khaled Fernainy, associate director of the Intensive Care Unit at AdventHealth Orlando, said it is still difficult — nearly 18 months after the start of the pandemic — to watch COVID-19 patients endure the isolation and physical impacts of the disease.

“The vast majority of folks in the ICU are unvaccinated and they tend to be younger,” he said. “For a good portion of them, these are avoidable hospitalizations that, for some, will change their lives.”

The vaccinated people in the ICU generally have significant existing health concerns such as immunecompromising diseases that rendered the vaccine less effective against the disease, he said.

For now, Smith said at-risk patients should continue to wear masks.

Other Central Florida hospitals are also reporting surges in coronavirus hospitalizations.

Tampa General Hospital current has 31 COVID-19 admissions, 10 of which are in intensive care units.

While BayCare — which operates 15 hospitals in Florida including Morton Plant, Mease, St. Anthony's, St. Joseph's and Winter Haven hospitals — hasn't reported its current coronavirus hospitalization rate, the health care group said it is continuing to receive positive results from people tested at its urgent care centers.

“Unfortunately, COVID still remains in our community, and some people will continue to develop symptoms,” said Dr. Nathan Keith Waldrep, chief medical officer for BayCare Urgent Care and Occupational Medicine and medical director for BayCare HomeCare and BayCare Telehealth. “That’s why we’ll continue to provide testing access for those who may contract the virus and need evaluation.”

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data tracker, Hillsborough, Polk, Pasco, Pinellas, Lee and Sarasota counties currently have a "substantial" community transmission level on a scale that ranges from "high" followed by "substantial" to "moderate" and "low" transmission levels.

Manatee, Orange, Duval, Escambia, Broward and Miami-Dade counties have "high" transmission levels.

The CDC said the following counties have experienced an increase in hospitalizations in the past week:

• 131.58 percent increase in Sarasota County
• 125 percent in Manatee County
• 52.06 percent in Orange County
• 51.68 percent in Miami-Dade County
• 46.81 percent in Pasco County
• 46.51 percent in Lee County
• 44.64 percent in Polk County
• 40.59 percent in Hillsborough County
• 40.21 percent in Broward County
• 31.73 percent in Duval County
• 8.11 percent in Pinellas County

According to the Florida Department of Health's most recent update on July 8:

• Hillsborough County has a 54 percent vaccination rate out of a population of 1,508,560. The coronavirus positivity rate from July 2-8 is 8.4 percent.
• Pinellas County has a 57 percent vaccination rate out of a population of 992,298. The county's positivity rate for July 2-8 is 6.1 percent.
• Pasco County has a 54 percent vaccination rate out of a population of 549,517. The positivity rate is 7.9 percent.
• Out of a population of 405,480, 57 percent of the population in Manatee County is vaccinated. The current coronavirus positivity rate is 7.7 percent.
• Sarasota County has a 67 percent vaccination rate out of 441,179 residents and the coronavirus positivity rate is 6 percent.
• Polk County has a 50 percent vaccination rate out of a population of 719,665. The most recent positivity rate is 8.7 percent.
• Broward County has a 66 percent vaccination rate out of 1,965,657 people and a positivity rate of 5.5 percent.
• Duval has a 48 percent vaccination rate out of 1,002,075 people with a 15.7 percent positivity rate.
• Escambia County has a 42 percent vaccination rate among its 327,107 people and a positivity rate of 10.2 percent.
• Lee County has a 57 percent vaccination rate for its population of 773,456 with a 7.4 percent positivity rate.
• Orange County's vaccination rate is 59 percent for 1,457,445 people with an 8.5 percent positivity rate.
• Miami-Dade County has a 7.3 percent vaccination rate among 2,918,507 people with a 5.3 percent positivity rate.
• Statewide, 58 percent of Florida residents have now been vaccinated and the positivity rate for the coronavirus from July 2-8 is 7.8 percent.

The statewide fatality rate from the coronavirus as of July 8 is 1.6 percent.

See related story: Delta Variant Spreads As Florida Ranks Average In Vaccinations