TAMPA, Fla. — We know social distancing takes some getting used to and can be an inconvenience. But, it is essential to save lives.
“If we don’t follow these guidelines, there are situations where I heard in Ecuador, bodies are lining up on the driveway and yeah it’ll be really bad,” said Dr. Thomas Unnasch.
Dr. Unnasch is a professor at the College of Public Health at the University of South Florida. He isn’t trying to scare you. But says he is simply telling you the truth about what will happen if social distancing guidelines aren’t followed.
“There will be twice as many people that need hospital beds than are available,” Dr. Unnasch told 10Investigates Jennifer Titus.
Dr. Unnasch says hospitals will be overwhelmed and there won’t be enough hospital beds for patients.
“If we reduce contact by 45 percent, chances are, we won’t be overwhelmed,” Dr. Unnasch said.
10Investigates looked at where hospitals are when it comes to their capacity and the number of beds available.
Right now, statewide there are 23,853 beds available. In the Tampa Bay area, hospitals are at 60 percent capacity already.
So, how do our local hospitals stack up?
Tampa General says it has 43 beds available. At Sarasota Memorial, that number is 56 and at Bayfront Health they have 186 beds.
“If people do what they are supposed to do with a lack of contact, I think we will be able to weather this crisis.”
But Unnasch says if the guidelines are not followed, the beds that are available now won’t be there in June.
“There’s going to be much more of a demand for hospital beds," Dr. Unnasch said.
10Investigates learned about hundreds of violations and reports of social distancing complaints here in the Tampa Bay area.
Between the Pinellas and Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Offices alone, there have been more than 550 complaints since March 27. You can see the full list from all the Tampa Bay area municipalities that have gotten back to us here.
The Pinellas County Sheriff's Office also told 10Investigates they have two teams, one on day shift and one on the night shift, dedicated to COVID-19 calls.
They also created a COVID-19 tips email. You can report any social distancing or other COVID-19 concerns here: covidtips-questions@PCSOnet.com.
You can find more information about USF's data on its website.