4 children amid COVID death toll in Florida as state sets new death record

The death toll from the COVID-19 outbreak in Florida continues to rise, as does the number of children succumbing to the virus.

The state verified 2,448 coronavirus deaths this week, including four children under the age of 16.

This is the third week in a row that Florida has recorded a record number of deaths, and it’s the biggest increase in child deaths since the state turned to weekly reports on June 4.

However, despite the increase in deaths, the number of new infections continues to decline. The state has registered 100,012 new cases over the past week, or about 14,300 cases per day. This is a 20% drop from the previous week and the lowest weekly number of cases since the end of July.

Daily deaths may continue to increase even as cases decrease. It typically takes weeks for an infected person to succumb to COVID-19, and weeks longer for their death to be recorded and monitored by state and federal agencies.

Federal data, updated Thursday, shows more than 300 Floridians died from COVID-19 in the third week of August – a peak 35% greater than the worst days of the summer infection wave latest.

With the crest of this wave being driven by the delta about two weeks ago, the death toll could remain high for weeks.

The number of admissions continues to suggest that the pressure on Florida hospitals has peaked.

As of Friday, there were 12,262 confirmed COVID patients, according to data from the Department of Health and Human Services. This is down over 22% from last week. Admissions are now at their lowest since early August.

Hospitals have admitted 9,905 new COVID-related cases in the past seven days, including 299 pediatric cases.

Yet staffing remains a challenge for Florida hospitals, with nearly three in 10 facilities reporting critical staffing shortages. Almost a quarter of hospitalized COVID patients are in intensive care.

The number of COVID patients at Tampa General Hospital increased last week from around 240 to 181, including 73 in intensive care. BayCare reported about 1,100 COVID-19 patients at its 14 hospitals on Thursday, about 40% more than during the 2020 pandemic peak.

For the third week in a row, children and adolescents have been infected at the highest rate in the state. Children and teens, who make up 22% of Florida’s population, accounted for nearly a third of new infections.

Children infected with COVID continue to arrive at the emergency room at Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg in record numbers.

In August, 516 children tested positive in hospital, up from 180 in July. The majority of them were discharged to manage their symptoms at home. The hospital admitted around 20 children with more serious illnesses. About half of them are in intensive care, spokeswoman Ashley Roberts said.

“This increase in cases across the state is unfortunate, especially for the many children under the age of 12 in the care of Johns Hopkins All Children who cannot get vaccinated,” she said in a statement. .

Tampa General on Thursday released a interview video with pediatricians, nurses and specialists pleading with the public to get vaccinated in order to protect children under 12 who are not yet eligible for the vaccine.

“The delta variant was really a game-changer for us because we weren’t seeing that many children – now we’re starting to see them in the ICU,” Janet Elozory, head of the pediatric intensive care nurse, said in the video. “The families are just in shock. It is normal healthy children who are suddenly really struck by this disease. “

Jennifer McCain, a pediatric neuropsychologist, said she had never experienced anything so “relentless, ruthless and terrifying” as the impact of the current wave.

“You have patients who are hungry for air – they have a hard time breathing,” she said. “As scary as it can be for adults, imagine what it is for children to go through this.”

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