FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – With ICU pediatric unit bed capacity throughout Broward County wearing thin, education leaders are worried about the spread of COVID-19 when school starts on Wednesday.
The COVID summer surge is affecting children more than ever.
“Our positivity rates now higher than ever before, and we’re not going to play Russian roulette with people’s lives,” said Dr. Rosalind Osgood, chair of the Broward County School Board.
Osgood and other board members believe it’s inevitable the virus will spread once school bells ring.
“So the reality of the fact is there is going to be an abundance of kids that will have COVID and will come into schools on Wednesday, and we’ll be spreading COVID,” said board member Lori Alhadeff.
ICU’s are filling up, with many patients needing ventilator care as Florida COVID cases have soared 14 times higher than in June.
There also isn’t a vaccine approved for children under 12 years old.
Local medical experts warn the delta variant is responsible for the impact on children we are seeing now, and students will have to pack their masks before hitting the books.
“As of Friday, when we are looking at our hospitalization rates here in Broward County for our ICU pediatric unit, there are 100% bed capacity,” said Dr. Vickie Cartwright, interim superintendent of Broward County Public Schools.
As for Miami-Dade, 86% of people admitted on Saturday were not vaccinated. More than half the patients admitted are under the age of