FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Broward County leaders held a special COVID-19 workshop Thursday, where the discussion ranged from code enforcement to hospital space to the length of time it takes to get test results back.
The Broward Sheriff’s Office reported a decline in calls about house parties since the curfew went into effect last weekend, most of which were vacation rentals.
Updating the situation on hospitals, Mayor Dale Holness said 90% of ICU beds are filled, with 45 available for adults and 29 for pediatric as of Wednesday.
Broward Health said their positive COVID-19 admissions are down from 285 to 240. Memorial Healthcare System continues to see a high number with 634, including 97 in the intensive-care unit.
On testing, the conversation revolves around the wait times people are experiencing to get back their results, up to over a week for some after tests were coming back in 2-3 days earlier this year. As a result of that lag time, the county says they have cut ties with certain labs, specifically mentioning LabCorp.
It was reiterated that 60 percent of the infection is being spread amongst families.
On Thursday, as the state set a new record for new coronavirus-related deaths reported in one day, Broward reported seven new deaths and 1,263 new cases of COVID-19. The county is up to 536 deaths and 45,010 cases since the start of the outbreak.
Broward’s positivity rate for COVID-19 tests conducted Wednesday was 14.1%, slightly higher than the 12.4% a day earlier.
As for any relaxed restrictions going forward?
“If the county decides to modify these restrictions, it’s going to be because we found a better, less intrusive way of addressing the problem,” said county attorney Andrew J. Meyers.