BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. – Hospitals in South Florida seem to be getting an uptick in weekly COVID-19 admissions, but doctors say that people don’t seem to be getting as sick as in previous cases and the overall number of patients remains relatively low.
Hany Atallah, Jackson Memorial Hospital’s chief medical officer, told Local 10 News Tuesday that the number of COVID-19 cases that have been admitted to his hospital has recently doubled.
“The number of cases we have had in the hospital has essentially doubled,” he said. “Now that may sound alarming, but it doubled from 15 to about 30 for patients who are admitted because of their COVID. The total number of patients we have across our healthcare system is 75 and that number has doubled from a few weeks ago where it was about 35 and 40.”
Atallah said along with the uptick in COVID-19 cases, it’s also cold and flu season. He suggests that people may go back to wearing masks if they feel it is necessary.
“We are seeing a lot of RSV (respiratory syncytial viruses) go up,” he said. “It is not a bad idea to wear a mask if you are at risk.”
“It is not too late to get your COVID booster (or) your flu vaccine,” Atallah added. “If over 65, the RSV vaccine would be helpful so there are a lot of things to protect you, nothing is 100 percent, but something is better than nothing.”
Broward Health officials say they are also experiencing a slight uptick in the number of COVID-19-positive patients.
This change in the relationship between infection levels and illness severity is related to greater immune protection levels provided by vaccines, prior infection or both.
The CDC reports that over 97% of people have natural or vaccine-induced antibodies against the virus that causes COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2). Click here for more information.