"We don't see it getting any better:" Florida hospitals struggle to cope as coronavirus surges

Record-breaking rises in coronavirus cases in Florida are leaving doctors and nurses struggling to cope as COVID-19 patients flood hospitals, leaving them close to capacity.

Dr. Andrew Pastewski, who runs the intensive care unit (ICU) at Miami's Jackson South Medical Center, said on Thursday (July 9) the hospital had already increased its ICU bed capacity but coronavirus patients just keep arriving.

"In all honesty, we don't feel like we're moving anywhere positive in the right direction," he said.

"We felt good for a while, we were able to close down the COVID ICU, we had all the COVID patients in one floor, We felt like we had our handle on it ... and then we had to open up a second floor and the third floor and now we're into a fourth and fifth floor, and we don't see it getting any better," he added.

Florida is not alone. Arizona, Texas, Georgia and South Carolina, which were among the first states to reopen commerce in May, are all seeing COVID-19 cases skyrocket.

More than 60,000 new COVID-19 infections were reported across the United States on Wednesday (July 8), the greatest single-day tally by any country since the virus emerged late last year in China. U.S. deaths rose by more than 900 for the second straight day.

"My team is getting pulled in every direction. It's getting hard on us and it's not getting easier ... we're having some good cases and we're discharging people and we have people that we've turned around. But, you know, when you lose a 49 year old who came in, told the nurse on day one 'I don't think I'm leaving this hospital,' and he was right that that kind of story just really makes getting up in the dark and getting to work very difficult," said Pastewski, as he struggled to hold back tears as he talked about a patient he lost that day.

Florida on Thursday announced nearly 9,000 new cases and 120 new coronavirus deaths, a record daily increase in lives lost.

"It's not just affecting the elderly, it is affecting everyone, and clearly it's the younger people who are going out and not being safe, a simple mask decreases transmission rate from 70, 75 percent to one percent if everybody's wearing masks. It's such a simple measure," says Pastewski.

"It's just disheartening (when people don't wear a mask) because the selfishness of it versus the selflessness of my staff and the people in this hospital who are putting themselves at risk -- and I got COVID from this -- you know, we're putting ourselves at risk and other people aren't willing to do anything and in fact, go the other way and be aggressive to promote the disease. It's really it's really hard," he added.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis called the rising cases a "blip" and urged residents not to be afraid.

Florida is one of the few states in the nation that does not disclose the number of hospitalized COVID patients. But more than four dozen Florida hospitals reported their intensive care units (ICUs) reached full capacity earlier this week, according to state data.

 

 

 

 

REUTERS