As hospitals across Florida grapple with the surge in COVID-19 cases, one Tampa Bay hospital system says it's experiencing something it hasn't dealt with since the pandemic began.
AdventHealth says its West Florida facilities have surpassed their highest peak of COVID-related hospitalizations since the pandemic began in March 2020. Nearly 275 people are hospitalized for COVID-19 in facilities across Hillsborough, Pasco and Pinellas counties.
More than 90 percent of people hospitalized with COVID-19 are unvaccinated, AdventHealth says.
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It's a trend congruent with the rest of Florida. The state is seeing a dramatic increase in COVID cases and hospitalizations, according to data reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
There were 10,207 people hospitalized with confirmed COVID-19 cases on July 31 — an all-time record even breaking last summer's peak, according to the Florida Hospital Association. And now, the state's 14-day moving average in deaths is increasing.
According to the Department of Health and Human Services, a little less than 83 percent of inpatient beds and about 87 percent of ICU beds in Florida were full, as of Aug. 2. Of those, about 19 percent of the inpatient beds and 34 percent of the ICU beds were being occupied by COVID patients, specifically.
Bed availability fluctuates by hospital. For instance, at Tampa General Hospital, HHS' latest data showed only 7.12 percent (or 887 of 955) inpatient beds were available, as of Monday morning. A little less than 16.5 percent of the hospital's 268 ICU beds remained open – although it wasn't immediately clear how many of them were being used by people with COVID.