SMH Reports Delta Variant Surge

Todays News

Doctors at Sarasota Memorial Hospital say they have seen an exponential increase in COVID-19 hospitalizations in the area. That’s attributable in large part to the spread of a delta variant on the coronavirus, a mutate version that’s twice as contagious as the virus that shut down the country last year.

But the surge is especially frustrating to medical professionals because of the availability of vaccines that, while not always preventing a virus infection, dramatically reduce the chance of hospitalization.

“We know we have the tools to protect people,” said Dr. Manuel Gordillo, medical director for SMH Infection Prevention and Control. “These infections have been made largely preventable, or at least to prevent you from ending up in a hospital or dying and going to the morgue.”

In Florida, about 19.1 million people have been vaccinated, about 59% of those age 12 and older who can receive the vaccine, according to the Department of Health. Vaccines in recent weeks have declined in how many get administered each week. With just over 224,000 administered the week of July 9 compared to more than 800,000 administered in the first week of May.

Meanwhile, there were 45,603 in the state who tested positive for COVID-19 last week, with a positivity rate of 11.5% (the spread is considered out of control when it exceeds 10).

In Manatee County, there were 204,528 vaccinated individuals 57% of the eligible population, as of last Friday. By comparison, the county has seen 40,602 cases of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic. 657 of those cases were in the past week. In Sarasota County, 272,503 have had a shot, or 68% of the eligible population. The county has seen 33,365 cases total, 504 of them in the last week.

Newer cases have often been more severe. Of nearly 100 patients hospitalized at SMH over the past month, officials said only six were not fully vaccinated.

Gordillo fears those who still haven’t had a shot in their arm have no intention of ever doing so.

“Some are them are hesitant still, but some of them are vaccine hostile,” he said. “I don’t know if this is a biological this, if people are born like that, their brain functions that way to be very conspiracy-prone, or the wiring in their neurons is such a way makes them this way. But I can tell you there’s a group of people are extremely refractory to getting vaccinated, no matter what you do. I would say that’s probably about 20% of the population out there. We still have maybe 10% we can work with, and we are not giving up on them. We need to continue to work on that particular group.”

« View The Thursday Jul 22, 2021 SRQ Daily Edition
« Back To SRQ Daily Archive

Read More

Perspire Sauna Studio is coming soon to The Landing!

Perspire Sauna Studio is coming soon to The Landing!

Mar 21, 2024

Nurse Follows Family Legacy, Recognized for Compassionate Care

Nurse Follows Family Legacy, Recognized for Compassionate Care

Feb 12, 2024

  Bay Pines VA Welcomes New Chief of Center for Development and Civic Engagement

Bay Pines VA Welcomes New Chief of Center for Development and Civic Engagement

Feb 5, 2024

SMH to Conduct Tests for DVT Treatment

SMH to Conduct Tests for DVT Treatment

Jacob Ogles | Jan 22, 2024