Oh, Florida!!! Covid19 Response

[DaMa]

I was in central FL last winter.  Based on the number of Trump and Confederate flags I saw, this is no surprise.   Any thoughts I had to move there ended very quickly.

[OtherJen]

I wonder if we'll see the same pattern as last year, wherein the southern and southwestern states saw spikes in case numbers as the outdoor temperatures increased and people began to spend more time indoors in AC. Case and hospitalization numbers here in Michigan have nearly rebounded to the levels seen a year ago, and our case numbers have been much higher since September (schools, cold weather) than they were last summer.

There's not that much fuel left to burn with all the infections that have happened and the now pretty rapid pace of vaccinations. But that's certainly possible. Is it AC weather already in TX in April?

-W

Roughly four months later:

"On a crash course": Texas hospitals brace for another COVID-19 surge as delta variant burns through unvaccinated communities (Texas Tribune)
North Texas COVID-19 hospitalizations trending toward previous winter peak by October, UTSW projects (WFAA)
WEEKEND READ: COVID-19 cases soar, Austin-Travis County ICU bed capacity shrinks, Longhorns move, Texas is sued (KXAN)
Texas health systems feeling crunch of latest COVID surge

And yet, Texas Gov. Abbott threatens fines again against local officials and businesses that enforce mask mandates, vaccine requirements (CNBC), even though Texas COVID-19 Cases, Hospitalizations Reach Highest Marks Since February (NBCDFW).

[Kris]

Florida breaks record with more than 21,000 new COVID cases (AP News)

So the pandemic situation in Florida may be worse now than during the last peak. And yet,

The state has become the new national epicenter for the virus, accounting for around a fifth of all new cases in the U.S. as the highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus continues to spread.

Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has resisted mandatory mask mandates and vaccine requirements, and along with the state Legislature, has limited local officials’ ability to impose restrictions meant to stop the spread of COVID-19. DeSantis on Friday barred school districts from requiring students to wear masks when classes resume next month.

Lord, those idiots… I am supposed to be going to an author signing in Orlando in late October. I’m gonna have to bow out. I can’t voluntarily walk into that.

[OtherJen]

Florida breaks record with more than 21,000 new COVID cases (AP News)

So the pandemic situation in Florida may be worse now than during the last peak. And yet,

The state has become the new national epicenter for the virus, accounting for around a fifth of all new cases in the U.S. as the highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus continues to spread.

Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has resisted mandatory mask mandates and vaccine requirements, and along with the state Legislature, has limited local officials’ ability to impose restrictions meant to stop the spread of COVID-19. DeSantis on Friday barred school districts from requiring students to wear masks when classes resume next month.

Lord, those idiots… I am supposed to be going to an author signing in Orlando in late October. I’m gonna have to bow out. I can’t voluntarily walk into that.

Hopefully things will settle out a bit in 12 weeks. But this is the current situation in Orlando:

Orange County COVID-19 cases reach 1,000 a day; AdventHealth says ICU is full (Orlando Sentinel)

Florida hospitals begin implementing COVID surge capacity plans, Hospital Association says (ClickOrlando.com)

[LaineyAZ]

I just saw a segment on CNN between the TV anchor and a doctor in Florida.  She played a video for the doctor where the governor was saying he didn't want mask mandates for school children because "he wanted to see the children's smiles."  Behind the governor everyone was clapping and laughing.

The doctor's response was priceless:  He didn't say anything for many seconds, and then said he was at a loss for words.  He then expressed dismay that the governor was joking about this.  And then the doctor said, "I'd rather not see a child in the ICU with a tube in their throat." 

So unbelievably frustrating.

[Abe]

That first paragraph  sounds like something out of China or North Korea.

[PDXTabs]

The UK never required all students to be masked in all settings. England dropped face masks in schools in May, Wales is dropping face masks in schools in September, and Scotland is talking about it:
https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/news/scottish-news/7459654/coronavirus-scotland-masks-classrooms-school-teachers-vaccinated/

And the UK hasn't even started vaccinating healthy kids under 18.

I'm not sure that Florida is wildly off the mark for masks in schools.

[partgypsy]

The UK is not vaccinating kids under 18 because of limited vaccine stock, not from medical reasons. It is true that minors are less likely to have a severe response to COVID, hence triaging that the youth do not get vaccines. But teens and children can catch COVID, transmit and pass on COVID, be hospitalized for COVID and even die from it.  (just not at same rates as adults/elderly/people with comorbidities).

I personally think that people in general should go back to some social distancing. NO ONE wants to do that, including me. Anyways, I have gone back to wearing masks in stores, wearing mask at the Y except when swimming, and eat outdoors versus indoors. I understand I am still taking a risk to get infected.

One thing that I was doing during COVID other than having just 1 other family distanced with, is to space any close social get togethers by a week, so if I had symptoms or other people developed symptoms I wouldn't infect a bunch of people during that initial period. I haven't been doing that, but I'm mulling it over.

[OtherJen]

The UK has also been a lot quicker to mandate quarantine/isolation: More than 1m school pupils in England absent last week due to Covid (The Guardian, July 20)

[scantee]

The UK never required all students to be masked in all settings. England dropped face masks in schools in May, Wales is dropping face masks in schools in September, and Scotland is talking about it:
https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/news/scottish-news/7459654/coronavirus-scotland-masks-classrooms-school-teachers-vaccinated/

And the UK hasn't even started vaccinating healthy kids under 18.

I'm not sure that Florida is wildly off the mark for masks in schools.

My niece in London is in the age group that hasn’t had to wear masks at school. She had Covid in the fall and has had to strict quarantine many, many times due to exposure from other kids and staff with Covid. She had to quarantine three times in just the last two months of school.

I think American parents hear that schools in European countries have remained open, sometimes without masks, and imagine that school-life has continued on as normal. That has not been at all the case for the the families I know. Their school year was completely disrupted just in a different way than in the US where more schools went to full remote for part or all of the year.

[GodlessCommie]

My niece in London is in the age group that hasn’t had to wear masks at school. She had Covid in the fall and has had to strict quarantine many, many times due to exposure from other kids and staff with Covid. She had to quarantine three times in just the last two months of school.

I think American parents hear that schools in European countries have remained open, sometimes without masks, and imagine that school-life has continued on as normal. That has not been at all the case for the the families I know. Their school year was completely disrupted just in a different way than in the US where more schools went to full remote for part or all of the year.

Sounds similar to the regime in my son's college (except he also had to wear a mask).

Everything is so nuanced, but all everyone wants is to have their opinion confirmed. 

[blue_green_sparks]

I just read our local Fl hospital setup tents and trailers in the parking lot for the non-covid cases since people are avoiding medical attention for fear of exposure. I guess the real toll that the unvaccinated cost us is unknowable.

[PDXTabs]

The UK is not vaccinating kids under 18 because of limited vaccine stock, not from medical reasons. It is true that minors are less likely to have a severe response to COVID, hence triaging that the youth do not get vaccines. But teens and children can catch COVID, transmit and pass on COVID, be hospitalized for COVID and even die from it.  (just not at same rates as adults/elderly/people with comorbidities).

I never said otherwise.

The UK has also been a lot quicker to mandate quarantine/isolation: More than 1m school pupils in England absent last week due to Covid (The Guardian, July 20)

They sure have! Their test and trace infrastructure was mentioned in the article I posted. So were plans to limit quarantine with negative PCR tests. I'm all for bashing Florida. Maybe that's what Florida should do.

I think American parents hear that schools in European countries have remained open, sometimes without masks, and imagine that school-life has continued on as normal. That has not been at all the case for the the families I know. Their school year was completely disrupted just in a different way than in the US where more schools went to full remote for part or all of the year.

Not me. I know that the UK schools didn't remain open during the multiple rounds of lockdowns. I do find it very interesting how some of the UK measures (lockdown) were way stricter than in the USA. Then some measures are less strict (last fall summer* they opened up all the pubs which arguably lead to the next round of lockdowns - we weren't doing that in Oregon). I'm fascinated by the differences in handling of COVID between the different anglophone nations. Also, I'm a UK citizen and keep up on Scottish news and politics.

*: BBC: Coronavirus: Pubs and hairdressers reopen as England's lockdown eases, NYT: U.K. Leader Lifts Wide Variety of Coronavirus Restrictions. This was way more lax than where I live in Multnomah county Oregon.

[ericrugiero]

I was curious about the UK surge and what it could project for us in US since the Delta variant hit there before it hit hard here.  In the UK data, they had two significant peaks in cases (early January 2021 they were averaging about 60K/day and mid July 2021 they averaged about 50K/day)  Looking at the deaths, they peaked in mid January 2021 at about 1300/day but in late July the deaths have been way lower at about 65/day.  That's a bit surprising for me.  This is partly explained by a higher vaccination rate (68% for the UK).  But still, 1/3 of the country is unvaccinated and the deaths are about 5% of where they peaked before.  They are probably at their peak death rate right now from the delta variant based on the time lag from peak infections and from the death curve peak (peak deaths were 17 days after peak cases in January- peak cases were July 16th which means peak deaths should be right now.  Some deaths surely haven't been captured but the curve has leveled out so it probably won't go much higher.)   
https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/cases
https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/deaths

When contrasted with the US, we seem to be lagging in Delta variant cases, but the death rate still seems much lower than it was early in the pandemic. 

TL-DR  Looking at the UK data, the death rate for their latest (delta variant) surge seems much lower than their January surge which makes me optimistic that the US death rate will also be lower.  Early data for current US surge seems to support this but it's still early for much of the country.  UK vaccination rate is higher which likely helps their death rate but doesn't fully explain the lower death rate (currently peaking at 5% of the January deaths/day). 

[GodlessCommie]

But still, 1/3 of the country is unvaccinated and the deaths are about 5% of where they peaked before.

I suspect it's because unvaccinated are almost exclusively young and healthy. As of two weeks ago, UK still hasn't opened vaccinations to everyone, going strictly in "who needs it most" order.

[PDXTabs]

But still, 1/3 of the country is unvaccinated and the deaths are about 5% of where they peaked before.

I suspect it's because unvaccinated are almost exclusively young and healthy. As of two weeks ago, UK still hasn't opened vaccinations to everyone, going strictly in "who needs it most" order.

I agree. The other difference between the US&UK is that I would presume, although I don't have great data, that UK vaccination rates are similar between different parts of the country. This can't be said for the USA. I live in Multnomah County Oregon where we have a 72% partial vaccination rate and 65% fully vaccinated rate (according to data that I found today). That's better than the UK (on average - 70%/57%).

But then for every Multnomah County there is a Sublette County Wyoming were only 24% of the population is fully vaccinated.

[partgypsy]

But still, 1/3 of the country is unvaccinated and the deaths are about 5% of where they peaked before.

I suspect it's because unvaccinated are almost exclusively young and healthy. As of two weeks ago, UK still hasn't opened vaccinations to everyone, going strictly in "who needs it most" order.

I agree. The other difference between the US&UK is that I would presume, although I don't have great data, that UK vaccination rates are similar between different parts of the country. This can't be said for the USA. I live in Multnomah County Oregon where we have a 72% partial vaccination rate and 65% fully vaccinated rate (according to data that I found today). That's better than the UK (on average - 70%/57%).

But then for every Multnomah County there is a Sublette County Wyoming were only 24% of the population is fully vaccinated.

I also predict the death rate won't be quite as bad because: the sickest may have already died. vaccinated people getting sick will not be AS sick as the unvaccinated first wave; and health personnel have gotten better at treating the disease (when to use ventilators, when not, supportive treatments) now they have had their trial by fire.

[gooki]

Plus this peak is coinciding with summer rather than winter.,

[Michael in ABQ]

But still, 1/3 of the country is unvaccinated and the deaths are about 5% of where they peaked before.

I suspect it's because unvaccinated are almost exclusively young and healthy. As of two weeks ago, UK still hasn't opened vaccinations to everyone, going strictly in "who needs it most" order.

I agree. The other difference between the US&UK is that I would presume, although I don't have great data, that UK vaccination rates are similar between different parts of the country. This can't be said for the USA. I live in Multnomah County Oregon where we have a 72% partial vaccination rate and 65% fully vaccinated rate (according to data that I found today). That's better than the UK (on average - 70%/57%).

But then for every Multnomah County there is a Sublette County Wyoming were only 24% of the population is fully vaccinated.

On the other hand Multnomah County has a population density of 1,700 people per square mile while Sublette County has a population density of 1.2 per square mile.

I just spent the weekend driving 1,000 miles through the middle of the country (SD, NE, CO, NM). It gives you an appreciation for just how spread out rural areas are. The biggest cities I passed through were 25,000 or so, most towns were less than 1,000 people. Until we hit I-25 in Colorado I'd say less than 5% of people were wearing masks, probably less than 2%. In Trinidad, CO it was about 20-30% in a grocery store we stopped at.

[DarkandStormy]

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/covid-surging-florida-doctors-nurses-are-back-crisis-mode-n1275746
https://www.fox13news.com/news/half-of-florida-covid-19-hospitalizations-under-55-96-unvaccinated
https://apnews.com/article/business-health-florida-coronavirus-pandemic-7ca97f0d685ab25559cf9b51cfc077eb

A day after it recorded the most new daily cases since the start of the pandemic, Florida on Sunday broke a previous record for current hospitalizations set more than a year ago before vaccines were available.

The Sunshine State had 10,207 people hospitalized with confirmed COVID-19 cases, according to data reported to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.

[Abe]

What a fiasco. Well surrounding states’ hospitals are filling up so there’ll be nowhere to transfer the hypoxic.

[Zamboni]

And college will start up again this month. Decisions about the fall were made late in the spring as numbers were all falling, so most faculty are being forced to teach in person. Rooms are back to "normal capacity", including those double and triple and quadruple occupancy tiny dorm rooms. That ought to be interesting. All those low risk young folks who are finally free of their parents' rules . . . and all those older faculty (seriously, just in case you didn't know, some people in their 80's and beyond are still teaching college.)

[lost_in_the_endless_aisle]

It's clear at this point that nearly everyone is going to be exposed to the delta variant and most of those who are unvaccinated will be infected. We can continue to pretend non-pharmaceutical interventions will meaningfully change this outcome, but that doesn't seem all that realistic. Nearly everyone in the US who wants a vaccine has one, except for young children who face low risk of complications from an infection. The facts on the ground has moved us past the point where further moralizing will change our trajectory.

[Paper Chaser]

And college will start up again this month. Decisions about the fall were made late in the spring as numbers were all falling, so most faculty are being forced to teach in person. Rooms are back to "normal capacity", including those double and triple and quadruple occupancy tiny dorm rooms. That ought to be interesting. All those low risk young folks who are finally free of their parents' rules . . . and all those older faculty (seriously, just in case you didn't know, some people in their 80's and beyond are still teaching college.)

All of the students and faculty in this situation have been able to get free, insanely effective vaccines for months now (assuming US). The potential downsides are much better now than they were a year ago, and that really changes the risk/reward calculus. There has always been a chance of getting sick in these environments. The important thing is that people who choose the vaccine are much less likely to have symptoms in the first place, and if they have symptoms, they're much much less likely to be severe or fatal. IF a person chooses to remain unvaccinated, and still wants to insert themselves into situations that are ripe for the spread of infections then they alone are responsible for any consequences of their choices.

[Roots&Wings]

Our vet can't get oxygen to do necessary surgery because they're only delivering to hospitals right now with the Covid surge from all the unvaccinated idiots.

My neighbor's cancer surgery has been deferred three weeks.

Thank goodness these people have Freedom to do whatever they want, and to hell with the impacts on anyone else.

[Dictionary Time]

I wonder if a single room would really make a difference. My son is set to go back soon. A single is 3k more per year. We’re able the cash flow tuition and a double room, this would pay us over into savings or student loan.  He’s fully vaxxed, but….

Then I think that they’re sharing a bathroom and eating in the hall. Would a single really make a difference. Then I think I’m a bad parent who doesn’t want to cough up $3,000 to protect my boy.

[SunnyDays]

I wonder if a single room would really make a difference. My son is set to go back soon. A single is 3k more per year. We’re able the cash flow tuition and a double room, this would pay us over into savings or student loan.  He’s fully vaxxed, but….

Then I think that they’re sharing a bathroom and eating in the hall. Would a single really make a difference. Then I think I’m a bad parent who doesn’t want to cough up $3,000 to protect my boy.

And sitting with hundreds of others in lecture halls.  Several times per day and a changing group of others.  I would save my money, frankly.

[Kris]

I wonder if a single room would really make a difference. My son is set to go back soon. A single is 3k more per year. We’re able the cash flow tuition and a double room, this would pay us over into savings or student loan.  He’s fully vaxxed, but….

Then I think that they’re sharing a bathroom and eating in the hall. Would a single really make a difference. Then I think I’m a bad parent who doesn’t want to cough up $3,000 to protect my boy.

I don't think it would make a difference. But as far as you making the decision, think ahead to a few months from now, if your son gets Covid, will you be consumed with guilt and convinced you should have paid the $3,000? If so, I guess it might be worth it for your peace of mind.

[partgypsy]

I wonder if a single room would really make a difference. My son is set to go back soon. A single is 3k more per year. We’re able the cash flow tuition and a double room, this would pay us over into savings or student loan.  He’s fully vaxxed, but….

Then I think that they’re sharing a bathroom and eating in the hall. Would a single really make a difference. Then I think I’m a bad parent who doesn’t want to cough up $3,000 to protect my boy.

I don't think it would make a difference. But as far as you making the decision, think ahead to a few months from now, if your son gets Covid, will you be consumed with guilt and convinced you should have paid the $3,000? If so, I guess it might be worth it for your peace of mind.

the only thing really useful, is that your kid can self isolate and hopefully work remotely, vs have to leave the dorm/return home due to infection. I guess it depends on what the school rules are.

[Michael in ABQ]

I wonder if a single room would really make a difference. My son is set to go back soon. A single is 3k more per year. We’re able the cash flow tuition and a double room, this would pay us over into savings or student loan.  He’s fully vaxxed, but….

Then I think that they’re sharing a bathroom and eating in the hall. Would a single really make a difference. Then I think I’m a bad parent who doesn’t want to cough up $3,000 to protect my boy.

The risk to someone who's around 20 years old is already close to zero, throw in being fully vaccinated and it's practically nothing.

[dougules]

It's clear at this point that nearly everyone is going to be exposed to the delta variant and most of those who are unvaccinated will be infected. We can continue to pretend non-pharmaceutical interventions will meaningfully change this outcome, but that doesn't seem all that realistic. Nearly everyone in the US who wants a vaccine has one, except for young children who face low risk of complications from an infection. The facts on the ground has moved us past the point where further moralizing will change our trajectory.

Wearing a mask may reduce the severity if you give it to someone.  It will also flatten the curve so we may burn out fewer of our medical workers.  If you think I'm moralizing, it's probably because you feel guilty.  I am also really really tired of wearing a mask, but it's where we're at now. 

[lost_in_the_endless_aisle]

It's clear at this point that nearly everyone is going to be exposed to the delta variant and most of those who are unvaccinated will be infected. We can continue to pretend non-pharmaceutical interventions will meaningfully change this outcome, but that doesn't seem all that realistic. Nearly everyone in the US who wants a vaccine has one, except for young children who face low risk of complications from an infection. The facts on the ground has moved us past the point where further moralizing will change our trajectory.

Wearing a mask may reduce the severity if you give it to someone.  It will also flatten the curve so we may burn out fewer of our medical workers.  If you think I'm moralizing, it's probably because you feel guilty.  I am also really really tired of wearing a mask, but it's where we're at now.

I wasn't singling you out wrt moralizing but commenting on the overall tone of this thread. I agree that some things will make some difference at the margins. But consider the following:

1) R0 is possibly as high as ~8 for delta (is this high of a value speculative or is it becoming widely accepted?)
2) vaccinated people can become infected, particularly with delta (10-40%? Very uncertain depending on the study; e.g. possible confounding variables in the Israel data)
3) infected vaccinated people can spread the virus (though vaccination reduces risk of spread in those infected by 50-75%? Uncertain, but maybe others have read up on this more)
4) vaccine hold-outs--depending on region of US--run 20-50% of the adult population

As an expert epidemiologist (aren't we all now?) I can run that in Excel and it outputs: "F"

Keep in mind delta infected most of the estimated 1 billion Indians who are seropositive and delta already has a massive amount of momentum in the US.

[DarkandStormy]

https://cbs12.com/news/local/new-covid-19-cases-reach-near-record-levels-in-florida

Florida reported more than 20,000 new cases of COVID-19 and 84 new deaths on Wednesday, according to the latest data from the CDC.

The 20,133 new cases on the docket come close to the one-day record high of 21,683 new cases set last Friday.

The number of new cases has been over the 16,000 mark for the past eight days.

https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/health/coronavirus/coronavirus-numbers/covid-vaccine-cases-florida/67-c7d7f12b-d8f0-4bde-b56d-f5e4677d9a00

Doctors and nurses across Florida continue to see an increased number of people dealing with COVID-19, the latest data shows.

The number of total hospitalizations with confirmed cases of COVID-19 climbed to 12,516 patients as of Aug. 5, according to the Florida Hospital Association.

[SunnyDays]

^^^^^^^^^^
Holy crap!  Those are scary numbers.  According to Google, Florida's population is 21 million, while all of Canada's (were I live) is 37 million, with an average daily case count of 837 this past week.  Granted, we're spread out a WHOLE lot more, but provinces are just recently drastically reducing restrictions, which has made a lot of people uneasy and some are protesting loudly.  Such a difference in risk tolerance.

[DarkandStormy]

https://www.miamiherald.com/news/coronavirus/article253312323.html

These Florida numbers are staggering.

-19% positivity rate
-new daily case record (22,783)
-42% of all ICU patients have covid
-1 in every 1,600 Floridians is currently hospitalized with covid
-Florida makes up over 20% of all nationwide covid hospitalizations at the moment

Alabama has just 7% of their ICU beds unoccupied currently.

[hooplady]

Florida is a complete travesty right now. I'm going back to masking in the most benign of circumstances. Social distancing is difficult since others are not practicing, so I've gone back to getting groceries delivered or doing curbside pickup. Our Governor denies that hospitals are in dire straits...I guess if you simply say it isn't true then it isn't. Most schools are starting back on Monday, with conflicting guidance on mask requirements. I'm very grateful that I don't have to engage with others if I don't absolutely have to.

[wenchsenior]

Texas is determined to whup Florida's ass in the Piece-of-Shit-Government sweepstakes.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/new-texas-school-guidelines-rattle-medical-experts-161539300.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall

[LaineyAZ]

Texas is determined to whup Florida's ass in the Piece-of-Shit-Government sweepstakes.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/new-texas-school-guidelines-rattle-medical-experts-161539300.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall

Arizona is right there with you.  It was explained that our governor is not anti-mask, he's "anti-mask mandates."  Oh, okay, I'm sure that's going to mean a lot to the students who will be catching Covid-19 as they go back to in-person school this month.
Although luckily a lot of school districts are defying the governor and mandating masks, so yes, that's in the court system now.  What a cluster.

[bacchi]

Our Governor denies that hospitals are in dire straits...I guess if you simply say it isn't true then it isn't.

There is a pretty large contingent of covid deniers he needs to attract. These deniers post pictures of strip mall urgent care centers and write, "The parking lot is empty! See, covid is fake!" I'm not sure if the picture takers are morons or just want the attention.

[wenchsenior]

Texas is determined to whup Florida's ass in the Piece-of-Shit-Government sweepstakes.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/new-texas-school-guidelines-rattle-medical-experts-161539300.html?fr=sycsrp_catchall

Arizona is right there with you.  It was explained that our governor is not anti-mask, he's "anti-mask mandates."  Oh, okay, I'm sure that's going to mean a lot to the students who will be catching Covid-19 as they go back to in-person school this month.
Although luckily a lot of school districts are defying the governor and mandating masks, so yes, that's in the court system now.  What a cluster.

The thing that's really freaky is the schools being directed not to inform parents of covid status within the school.

[bacchi]

Houston has run out of pediatric beds.

This is Houston; it has a huge medical complex.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/08/07/baby-girl-with-covid-19-airlifted-150-miles-amid-hospital-bed-shortage-houston/
https://www.kxxv.com/hometown/bell-county/11-month-old-with-covid-19-airlifted-to-temple-from-houston-due-to-lack-of-bed-space

An 11-month-old girl ill with covid-19 had to be intubated and airlifted more than 150 miles from Houston to Temple, Tex., for treatment this week because pediatric hospitals in the state’s largest city were full, hospital officials said.

[MrGreen]

Houston has run out of pediatric beds.

This is Houston; it has a huge medical complex.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2021/08/07/baby-girl-with-covid-19-airlifted-150-miles-amid-hospital-bed-shortage-houston/
https://www.kxxv.com/hometown/bell-county/11-month-old-with-covid-19-airlifted-to-temple-from-houston-due-to-lack-of-bed-space

An 11-month-old girl ill with covid-19 had to be intubated and airlifted more than 150 miles from Houston to Temple, Tex., for treatment this week because pediatric hospitals in the state’s largest city were full, hospital officials said.

I saw it mentioned as the largest medical complex in the world. I was surprised, and would not have guessed that. Three or four weeks from now things will get really ugly. Models are predicting a peak in Florida the first week of September that is 2-4x higher than the previous peak. I'm guessing there are not enough hospitals for that.

[Abe]

I work in the TMC. We are shutting down elective operations to accommodate ICU patients as we are exceeding standard ICU capacity in the hospitals and are using the ER and step-down as ICU beds. Next phase is to use ORs like in the NYC area during the initial spring 2020 surge. There is a large RSV outbreak so the children’s hospital is full and cannot provide additional ICU capacity like they did in the summer 2020 surge. Our overall mortality rate for someone admitted to the hospital (ICU or not) is 10%. We will likely see a few thousand deaths from this surge alone. Many of the patients come from outlying, rural counties that are anti-vaccine and anti-mask. Unfortunately their smaller hospitals cannot handle COVID icu patients and they get transferred to the TMC.

[LifeHappens]

It is really hard to get a Covid test in Florida right now.

I live in the Tampa Bay area and needed to get a test + results before travel on Wednesday. Rapid test is fine.

I booked a test on Friday to be performed Sunday. Got an email very early Sunday morning saying the test had been cancelled "due to unforeseen circumstances." This was at a major pharmacy chain.

I was able to find an urgent care somewhat near me to get tested (negative, thank the FSM), but it was a bit of an ordeal. If that hadn't worked out, the next available test I could find was 2 days out.

The state shut down mass testing sites quite some time ago. A nearby county just opened two sites back up. They expected 500 tests Saturday and ended up doing 2,000. The demand is very high and the capacity just isn't there.

[DaMa]

It is really hard to get a Covid test in Florida right now.

I live in the Tampa Bay area and needed to get a test + results before travel on Wednesday. Rapid test is fine.

I booked a test on Friday to be performed Sunday. Got an email very early Sunday morning saying the test had been cancelled "due to unforeseen circumstances." This was at a major pharmacy chain.

I was able to find an urgent care somewhat near me to get tested (negative, thank the FSM), but it was a bit of an ordeal. If that hadn't worked out, the next available test I could find was 2 days out.

The state shut down mass testing sites quite some time ago. A nearby county just opened two sites back up. They expected 500 tests Saturday and ended up doing 2,000. The demand is very high and the capacity just isn't there.

Wow.  FL is hitting these case levels without readily available testing.  I'm glad I have no plans to travel there.
 
I saw something yesterday about different symptoms for Delta in vaccinated people -- sneezing, post nasal drip, etc -- more like allergies.  I had like 3 days two weeks ago, where I was sneezing a lot.  Now I wonder.

[Roots&Wings]

It is really hard to get a Covid test in Florida right now.

I live in the Tampa Bay area and needed to get a test + results before travel on Wednesday. Rapid test is fine.

I booked a test on Friday to be performed Sunday. Got an email very early Sunday morning saying the test had been cancelled "due to unforeseen circumstances." This was at a major pharmacy chain.

I was able to find an urgent care somewhat near me to get tested (negative, thank the FSM), but it was a bit of an ordeal. If that hadn't worked out, the next available test I could find was 2 days out.

The state shut down mass testing sites quite some time ago. A nearby county just opened two sites back up. They expected 500 tests Saturday and ended up doing 2,000. The demand is very high and the capacity just isn't there.

Wow your Dr doesn't do Covid test? In Central FL, many Dr's will get you PCR test results within 10 minutes.

[oldtoyota]

Florida breaks record with more than 21,000 new COVID cases (AP News)

So the pandemic situation in Florida may be worse now than during the last peak. And yet,

The state has become the new national epicenter for the virus, accounting for around a fifth of all new cases in the U.S. as the highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus continues to spread.

Republican Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has resisted mandatory mask mandates and vaccine requirements, and along with the state Legislature, has limited local officials’ ability to impose restrictions meant to stop the spread of COVID-19. DeSantis on Friday barred school districts from requiring students to wear masks when classes resume next month.

Lord, those idiots… I am supposed to be going to an author signing in Orlando in late October. I’m gonna have to bow out. I can’t voluntarily walk into that.

Hopefully things will settle out a bit in 12 weeks. But this is the current situation in Orlando:

Orange County COVID-19 cases reach 1,000 a day; AdventHealth says ICU is full (Orlando Sentinel)

Florida hospitals begin implementing COVID surge capacity plans, Hospital Association says (ClickOrlando.com)

Not good! We were planning a trip to Orlando and will give it a pass for now…

[oldtoyota]

The UK never required all students to be masked in all settings. England dropped face masks in schools in May, Wales is dropping face masks in schools in September, and Scotland is talking about it:
https://www.thescottishsun.co.uk/news/scottish-news/7459654/coronavirus-scotland-masks-classrooms-school-teachers-vaccinated/

And the UK hasn't even started vaccinating healthy kids under 18.

I'm not sure that Florida is wildly off the mark for masks in schools.

I have oodles of friends in the UK. Some have long Covid now. Others had sick kids, which meant the whole family had to isolate and that affected work and income.

On the surface, I’m sure it sounds great but you have to dive into the long-term and short-term effects of these decisions. Long Covid and death is not good. Losing income is not good.

[LifeHappens]

It is really hard to get a Covid test in Florida right now.

I live in the Tampa Bay area and needed to get a test + results before travel on Wednesday. Rapid test is fine.

I booked a test on Friday to be performed Sunday. Got an email very early Sunday morning saying the test had been cancelled "due to unforeseen circumstances." This was at a major pharmacy chain.

I was able to find an urgent care somewhat near me to get tested (negative, thank the FSM), but it was a bit of an ordeal. If that hadn't worked out, the next available test I could find was 2 days out.

The state shut down mass testing sites quite some time ago. A nearby county just opened two sites back up. They expected 500 tests Saturday and ended up doing 2,000. The demand is very high and the capacity just isn't there.

Wow your Dr doesn't do Covid test? In Central FL, many Dr's will get you PCR test results within 10 minutes.

No, my Dr.'s office doesn't do testing. I think it's a policy for that entire health system. You have to go to one of their labs, which are even more backed up than the urgent cares.

[six-car-habit]

 Judge stops portion of Desantis backed law affecting cruise ships --

  From Reuters -" A U.S. judge has allowed Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (NCLH.N ) to demand that passengers show written proof of coronavirus vaccination before they board a ship, dealing a major blow to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis's effort to ban "vaccine passports."

In a preliminary ruling issued on Sunday, U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams in Miami said Norwegian would likely prevail on its argument that the "vaccine passport" ban, signed into law by DeSantis in May, jeopardizes public health and is an unconstitutional infringement on Norwegian's rights.

The judge blocked DeSantis from enforcing the law against Norwegian, allowing the cruise ship operator to proceed with a plan to resume port activity in Miami on Aug. 15. Violations of the law could have triggered a penalty of $5,000 per passenger, potentially adding up to millions of dollars per cruise."

 Norwegian Cruise lines had told the CDC they would show that 95% of their passengers had been tested negative before sailing.....