The sudden increase of coronavirus cases in Florida is causing ICUs to run out of room from increasing numbers of coronavirus cases.
Marked increases of coronavirus cases have made Florida, which is considered as the newest epicenter of the pandemic. Too many cases have been reported that 45 hospitals there have run out of beds in the intensive care units
Data from the state's Agency for Health Care Administration reveal that these medical facilities are swamped. Sources indicate that hard-hit hospitals are in Miami-Dade County and another five are in neighboring Broward County. These alarming stats are swamping already taxed health systems, according to CBS News.
According to reports, there are 6,252 in all the ICUs in the state that are all occupied. With that number of beds used, it was mentioned that only 19% are free throughout the state. Smaller counties like Nassau, Okeechobee, and Putnam have zero available beds by now.
Larger counties like Seminole and St. Lucie have 5% of bedding capacity to go. Overall, there are 5,035 beds all used up. The remaining 5% will be a problem if there is an increase of more COVID patients.
Coronavirus cases rising in Florida
As of the last count of all the COVID-19 cases in Florida, 10,000 new infections were reported during the fifth day. Last Sunday, a whopping 12,523 people caught the bug as well. It seems that the coronavirus is getting worse with 21,000 total infections according to the Florida Department of Health.
The county of Miami-Dade, which is the most populated county Florida now has 23% of its ICU beds that are not occupied. According to officials, these ICU beds are ready for COVID-19 patients. Broward county, with the second most dense population in the state, is about an 11% capacity for their patient capacity.
According to the Miami Mayor Dan Gelber, he called an 8 p.m. curfew to close South Beach, to stop further transmission of the virus. This was reported by CBS Miami as the pandemic took more foothold there.
Gelber said that the use of masks is not enough, and many are lax to follow the need for masks to stop the transmission of the virus. He added that it was like a big party, where transmission is inevitble. Miami is now in the midst of a full-blown epidemic with almost full ICUs threatening a worse crisis.
Penalty for people who refused to wear mask in public
In response to the hard-headedness of those refusing to wear a mask, a warning will not be needed anymore. If a mask is not used outdoors or indoors, there will be a fine given as a penalty.
The first offense will be at $50 and goes up the next time you're caught, it will be $150. If a person still does not comply with the mask regulations, it will be $500. This rule was authorized by Mayor Francis Suarez to start on Monday. This was confirmed by CBS Miami.
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