Florida’s coronavirus cases are soaring in far larger numbers than they did at the previous peak of the pandemic in the state in April, with just the last seven days totaling 14,744 new cases, or 18 percent of the cumulative total of 82,700 going back to March 1.
Similar spikes are being seen in Texas and Arizona where, as in Florida, governors pushed for broad reopenings of the economy and society with more guidance than mandates regarding protective measures such as the wearing of masks. Florida is among 26 states, mostly in the South and West, seeing a resurgence in cases. Gov. Ron DeSantis has repeated the advice from Vice President Pence–to tell constituents that the new cases are a result of increased testing. Testing has increased, but it alone does not account for the wave of new cases, as Florida’s positivity rate–the percentage of those testing positive–is also soaring, pointing to increased community transmission. Over the past 14 days, Florida has had the ninth-highest rate of new cases per million population out of the 50 states, with a rolling, 14-day average of daily Covid-related deaths at 33.
What Flagler County Emergency Management Chief Jonathan Lord today described as an “astronomical” spike in the state has local officials concerned, though in Flagler there is no change in direction–“not here locally, yet,” Flagler Health Department Chief Bob Snyder said this afternoon.
“I’m concerned about the resurgence of cases, and positivity rate of cases in what, 26 states, including Florida,” Snyder said. Nothing is changing here because he and Stephen Bickel, the department’s medical director, are monitoring 10 indicators that so far are not raising local alarms. “I’ll be the first to speak up if we see that things are trending in the wrong direction,” Snyder said.
Those indicators include the local positivity rate of those tested, which is under 1 percent, with some 630 people tested in the last seven days through June 16, the trend of people going to the local hospital with either Covid-like or flu-like symptoms, and the availability of hospital beds. As of this afternoon, 12 of AdventHealth Palm Coast’s 112 beds were available, according to the Agency for Health Care Administration, and five of 18 ICU beds were available. Statewide, just under 24 percent of ICU beds are available.
The Covid numbers have been increasing substantially in larger counties, among them Duval, where 84 new cases were declared on Tuesday and the positivity rate has risen from under 2 percent 14 days ago to 5.5 and 6.56 percent in the last two days. Seminole has seen its numbers increase over the last eight days and its positivity rater to nearly 11 percent. St. Johns has seen an increase in cases and a positivity rate surging from 1 percent or less the first part of the month to between 3 and 6 percent the last five days. “I’m curious to see if the governor and others respond with a change in strategy,” Snyder said, “but gosh, what I’m reading in the newspapers and just hearing him talk, it doesn’t seem likely, does it?”
But that misses the point, local officials say.
“Sure we’re concerned about patient admissions overwhelming hospitals and intensive care units. That is like a disaster. We shouldn’t even be getting near there,” Bickel said. “We want to be resuming normal activities with proper social distancing. That would be like such a failure, it’s not even something we’re kind of weighing. If it happens, we’ll have to deal with it, maybe have to re-institute these drastic measures, but we don’t even want to get near that.”
“And that is what’s happening in some of our state, and that’s why we are concerned and we are weary, and why we say this is not over until when a vaccine is broadly administered,” Snyder said.
The more permissive approach in Florida, Arizona, Texas and other states contrasts sharply with that of China, where the pandemic originated, and where it appeared to have been controlled. Beijing had not reported a new case in 56 days, but a new outbreak there immediately led to a partial shut-down, cancelled flights and trains, school closures and lockdowns. Beijing’s population is roughly equal to Florida’s, though obviously far more densely packed, though the renewed infections there are in the dozens, not thousands, as has been the case daily in Florida.
DeSantis on Tuesday kept the emphasis on keeping the economy going. “You have to have society function, you have to be able to have a cohesive society,” DeSantis said. “To suppress a lot of working-age people at this point, I don’t think would be highly effective.” He spoke with a measure of contempt for masks, saying he would not make them a requirement. “We’re not going to be doing that. I think it would be applied unevenly, and I just don’t think it would end up working,” the governor said, inaccurately: masks, public health officials and physicians–including Snyder, Lord and Bickel locally–are an effective way to reduce community transmission at little cost and little more than some discomfort.
“Mask-wearing doesn’t really have a downside,” Bickel said during today’s weekly Palm Coast town hall on Covid-19 (the last scheduled such town hall). “There’s really no trade-off. Some people think it’s mildly uncomfortable until they get bused to it. But basically you can go around, carry out your normal life. There’s no downside.” He called it “a no-brainer. If I were king of the United States I’d probably mandate mask-wearing, but I’m not, and I understand that there are trade-offs, and that the reason people aren’t pushing it hard is they don’t want to take away people’s freedoms. But as a strict measure in terms of a strategy, it’s vital.”
He said herd immunity is not a strategy for now because without a vaccine, it would take too long to get 60 to 65 percent of the population infected, and it would be devastating, with 1 million deaths. Almost 120,000 people have died in the United States so far. “But another way is wearing masks. If everybody wears masks, or even that same figure, 60 to 65 percent of the population, what it means is those people aren’t spreading it within a group. So it’s kind of creating a herd immunity. So people should think about it this way. They may not be doing it, they may feel invincible, they’re young and healthy and they like their freedom, but it’s a contribution to our collective ability to prevent the spread of this infection. It’s a way to create herd immunity. And the more we do it the more people can resume their normal lives.”
In Flagler County, 6.3 percent of the population has been tested, including some 1,550 residents and staff members in 72 assisted living facilities, nursing homes and group homes. All but 50 tests from those 1,500 have been recorded, and all of those have returned negative. By the Department of Health’s official measure, Flagler has a cumulative total of 214 positive cases since March 1, with five deaths, and the majority of the remainder considered recoveries. The median age of those affected in Flagler is 59, with women accounting for substantially more cases than men–123 cases for women, 83 for men.
“Those are all great numbers for our community, but I must caution, I truly, truly believe, and I believe our health department does as well,” Lord said today during the town hall, “that is because people are social distancing and wearing masks. I also truly believe that if we let off the gas pedal with that, that we will then join the rest of the state that is just seeing this astronomical rise in new cases statewide.” He added: “I really don’t want us to look like the rest of the state is looking like.” He spoke at length about the importance of wearing masks in public–grocery stores, restaurants, waiting line line, other public spaces. “It’s OK if our community is abnormal and we have lower numbers, that’s something we can all be very, very proud of, but the only way to stay that way is to keep up with the good fight.”
Snyder cited Arizona and Texas as places that, with its increased mobility in reopening, is seeing a serious spike in emergency room visits and hospitalizations related to Covid-19. “So we are watching trends here in Florida for that reason,” Snyder said. Bickel cited the Covid Exit Strategy website, which tracks states reopening, assigning red, yellow and green codes to the states, with red being those doing “poorly,” trend-wise. Florida is in the red.
The health department received 67,000 cloth masks made by Hanes, for free distribution, last week. It has distributed 55,000 of them. “We are ordering more,” Snyder said. “We’re going to give them away as quickly as we get them, so yes for facial mask-wearing universally,” Snyder said.
Between the focus on masks, increased testing and vigilant and immediate contact tracing, Snyder, Bickel and Lord have strived to essentially recreate on a small scale in Flagler what South Korea, Germany and a few other nations have carried out successfully in their containment of Covid-19, albeit with fewer means at Flagler officials’ disposal: they cannot depend on either the cohesive policies of those societies in that regard, nor on the greater trust in government those societies can depend, contending instead with contradictory messages from government officials, including locally.
Still, the department’s goal is to test about 2 percent of the county’s population each month. After a spike in May and early June, that may be a new challenge, as the county’s ongoing testing site at the Palm Coast campus of Daytona State Community College is drawing 50 to 75 people a day, though the testing site’s capacity is 150 a day. (Call 313-4200 to make a testing appointment.)
“This hasn’t ever been an effort to minimize our residents’ rights or what we feel is appropriate or not, it really is based on our health and emergency management professionals that have guided us in a direction that has led us to the numbers we’re at today,” Palm Coast Mayor Milissa Holland said today, summing up the city’s approach since March. It’s been, with Flagler Beach, the most rigorously defensive approach against the virus, with strict regulations applying at City Hall and on city-controlled grounds, and a concerted effort to make mask-wearing universal: Holland and all other officials who have appeared live on video at Town Hall meetings have done so in masks, even though they were socially distanced. County government requires masks at its meetings, but enforcement is lax, and county commissioners have not worn their masks during meetings. The difference between city and county practices has been stark.
“We do need to remain diligent,” Holland said, “and I guess we’ll sound like a broken record for a long time now. But we’re going to sound like a broken record.”
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Robin says
Good luck with controlling outbreaks. I just drove by a Flagler beach bar in A-A (Tortogas) and it was jammed with people shoulder-to -shoulder. The majority were not wearing masks.
LetThemEatCake says
The thing is, these people testing negative need testing again. Their bodies may not have built up antibodies to a level the test can detect. Don’t count on antibodies either. Three members of my family tested positive for COVID and did the antibody tests only 3 months after infection and all tests were negative. They each went back and had another set of tests (done by a lab) and tested negative for three different types of antibody tests.
Ron says
The numbers will continue to climb. A lot has to do with Florida economy relying heavily on tourism. You do not have to look to far to see it. Just take a stroll by the Hammock Beach Resort Pool’s on a beautiful day. There are a lot of younger adults who seem to disregard the CDC and health care providers. Some of our Flagler county Commissioners are to blame also. They put plans in place without any enforcement mechanism.
Steve says
Just a matter of time. Just look how the BOOMRRS drive in this Town it is a reflection of the ME Entitled group. I dont like the attitude of disrespect for the fellow man women or child. Mothers with kids and no PPE over 2 or 3 months of time over and over I see this.. Irresponsible. When something bad happens only blame yourself. EXIT stage right.
Maria Darcy says
Take your mask and shove it! Do not tell us what to do, you are not our parents. There are many other experts that disagree with you, many, but you don’t want to debate their findings because you want the “new normal” to take over. Soon, the voters will take the City and County back, just not soon enough!
Kate says
Did u have someone in your family get the virus or die from it? When u do then u can answer the question should we wear mask.
Palm Coast Mom says
How sad that you can be so cruel and ignorant about putting other people’s lives at risk. The 115 thousand people that died all had families and dreams and lives that were snatched from them. But, that’s OK as long as you don’t have to inconvenience yourself by wearing a mask.
Maria Darcy says
Palm Coast Mom, Let fear run your life, run into a cave and stay there, but don’t assume I am cruel and ignorant because I won’t be controlled by those of you that want to tell the rest of the population what to do. It does no good to waste my time sharing the misinformation out there, the experts that don’t agree with the models, or the fact that many of those that passed away had other issues, or that the government pays more when COVID-19 is listed as a cause of death. I hope you, your family, friends, stay safe, healthy, and respect our right to make informed decisions.
Live thy neighbor says
@maria Darcy, Please share with us the names of these “experts”of which you speak. How are we to debate their opinions without knowing who or what they said, because I am a nurse and I’ve never heard any MD experts make such claims as you mention. Just the opposite. Please share the medical journals and sites which describe the studies to substantiate your claim.
Thank you
Outsider says
It’s going to work it’s way through the population, no matter what we do. Shutting down the entire economy is not going to happen. People have to eat. If you are vulnerable, take precautions or stay home if you are retired. Life will go on for the rest of us. That’s the simple reality of it.
YAPOS says
This state needs a good toloit flushing. Open the state up and let it rip!
Ben Dover says
Its like 80% of people in stores are not wraring masks and 20% are ,the only reason our numbers are low in Flager is because tje amount of people tested is low ,if you can tell people no shoes no shirt no admittence ,than you can add mask because the firsy two won’t kill you ,but the last one could
Robjr says
Dumb and Dumber
Gov. Ron DeSantis has repeated the advice from Vice President Pence–to tell constituents that the new cases are a result of increased testing.
Is the fact that the US leads the world in Covid 19 deaths a result of increased testing?
The US population is 4% of the global population.
The US Covid 19 deaths is 26% of the global deaths.
Must be a fake news.
Chris says
Go to flagler beach, pier and restaurants and you will see 75 percent of the people there are not wearing mask and social distancing is a joke there. Being safe and opening up can work together but people are not listening.
marlee says
I guess they don’t know it’s a hoax, yet.
No need for those anti-freedom masks!
Loren says
The Town Hall meeting was on point and inspiring with direction for mask wearing and social distancing to combat the current situation. For those of us that are care givers, have under lying health conditions and or within an age group we also both desire and need to go out. Both wearing masks and social distancing enables this.
I limit do going out.
Not all merchants are following the advice, unfortunately.
Information follows for those who agree mask wearing matters.
Yesterday morning the UPS store at Island walk the clerk wore no mask.
I Requested “Respectively, would you please wear a mask while waiting on me, or is there some one else who would wait on me?” The woman responded, “No. I’m the only one here.”
I thanked her and left.
A week prior, same location, two younger employees both wore masks.
After completing my transaction I thanked them for doing so.
The employee waiting on me acknowledged two other coworkers would not wear masks.
Two weeks prior, same UPS store location, two women, wore masks hanging off their ears ?!?
It would be helpful to have a sign at their entrance alerting to what was on duty. Mask/No Mask.
On a positive note: CPU Palm Coast C Store 320 Palm Coast PKWY NE within
The gas station is set up to ship USPS.
Very impressive with plexiglass and masks.
Randy Jones says
Can anyone tell us how many of these “new” cases resulted in hospitalization? Very important number and I’m curious to know the answer.
Fredrick says
So unless I missed it in the article, there is no indication that the state wide rate of those going to the hospital because of the virus, has not gone up or increased dramatically or “overwhelmed” the hospitals which is what the shutdown was for. Remember flatten the curve?? If you listened to the governor when he talked about this, more testing of migrants who are living on top of each other, and in some locations they tested 100 people and over half of them tested positive yet they did not have any symptoms. This same scenario repeated in numerous locations across the state, in similar group settings be they migrants or institutional settings, and will continue as testing is expanded. As you test more people without symptoms, you will find more people who are positive and just don’t know it.
Is the hospital admission rate for those with Covid going up state wide significantly? As we open the state I would expect some ? If we are not “overwhelmed the health care system” which the shutdown was put in place for, then stop the panic and hysteria. We need to do what the state has done very well. Protect those that are vulnerable (ie don’t send those with the virus back to a nursing home as an example, good job Coumo), and use some common sense.
And no you don’t need to run out and buy more toilet paper……..
Please stop feeding the hysteria…
Beacon says
It’s all BS. They don’t want large crowds gathering at political rallys…why? Because Trump draws tens of thousands and sleepy joe can only muster 600 on an online rally. I cannot wait for Trump to destroy sleepy joe in a debate, but I’m thinking the lefty’s will try to prevent debates from happening because of this scary corona virus. All this is just another flu rolling through.
Balfour says
I think Karma would be satisfied if everyone who says “it’s just another flu” actually GOT it. And because they’re not being careful, there’s a good chance they will! I wish we had stats on THAT. — In my opinion, Trump is just killing off his supporters, and that’s really not conducive to winning an election.
Sherry says
Not only are the number of positive tests going up, but hospitalizations are as well. Deaths are NOT going down!
We are most definitely doing the WRONG things to keep our state populace safe and healthy. . . by NOT social distancing and wearing masks! Getting very sick and possibly dying from this very contagious and lethal virus would NOT be inevitable if people would just cooperate in keeping one another safe! Too many are uncaring barbarians!
Here is a link to the latest charts. . . showing that it is NOT about more tests being administered. . . like the lying politicians want us to believe:
https://tallahasseereports.com/2020/06/15/two-charts-show-positive-trends-for-florida-in-coronavirus-battle/
Fredrick says
Sherry, thanks for the link to the charts. That is what I was looking for. Based on a 7 day moving average and data shown the uptick in hospitalizations is insignificant and similar to the rise and falls that we saw earlier when we were still locked down. Hospitals are not overwhelmed, the curve is flattened and that is what the shutdown was all about. And yes some of those charts along with listening to the groups who are now being tested and the fact that they have no symptoms, show much of it is additional testing. Obviously there will be some uptick from opening up. That is to be expected.
I would not be panicking yet, that it is the end of times but if it fits your narrative please feel free. If you are in a group with underlying conditions take appropriate care and precautions.
Percy's mother says
The hospitalizations listed are TOTAL hospitalizations, NOT hospitalizations NOW.
For those who don’t know how to decipher stats properly, one would look at the number of hospitalizations and get the wrong idea. Again, hospitalizations in the stats are TOTAL hospitalizations since when this pandemic started and stats started being reported.
Instead of going to a (leftist) newspaper (Tallahassee Democrat) to get up-to-date stats, why not go to the source?
Florida Department of Health. The stats are updated every day around 11:00 a.m.
Should one want a breakdown county-by-county, one can click on the following:
Florida’s COVID-19 Data and Surveillance Dashboard
Florida Department of Health, Division of Disease Control and Health Protection
Forget the leftist newspapers which might have a hidden agenda in reporting.
But again, before jumping to the wrong conclusion, make sure you know how to decipher the numbers.
Sherry says
According to the latest official information, there are only TWO ICU beds available in Flagler county today. Let’s hope we all stay safe and well and that no one needs them.
We can assist in limiting the spread of this very highly contagious and lethal disease by NOT relying solely on any politician’s agenda filled message. Listen instead to the MEDICAL EXPERTS . We can help to save our neighbors from illness and possibly death by continuing to social distance and wearing a mask.
Why? Why? Why? Are there those that are so incredibly selfish and self centered that they still refuse to simply be good neighbors and “try” to keep us all safer? Why are we no longer considering each and every life precious and treasured by our entire community? These are indeed terrible times for relationships between human beings!
Here is the link to the latest hospital capacity data:
https://bi.ahca.myflorida.com/t/ABICC/views/Public/ICUBedsCounty?%3AisGuestRedirectFromVizportal=y&%3Aembed=y
Loren says
There is not an adequate satisfactory answer.
Self centered selfishness are an explanation.
Social distancing and wearing masks enables businesses to open and those with under lying issues, within the compromised age range or caring for others to go out and about “more” safely.
It is VERY selfish to simply say” if you do not feel safe stay home.“
Mostly everyone requires getting out to Doctors appointments, jobs, some shopping.
To socially distance only to find others not doing so, to wear a mask only to find an alarming % defiant that it is their American “right” NOT to wear a mask is beyond frustrating.
Their defiance endangering my Life, the life of those I personally care for.
We all need to act beyond ourselves.
This is not selfless. It is for you as well as others.
Normal will return sooner with the very small “inconvenience” of wearing a mask and keeping your distance.
Choose to be thoughtful and kind.
Tony says
Hey Sherry, in looking at the data you linked (Thanks, it’s really good info!), it seems there were only 18 total ICU beds in Flagler. Volusia is only a few minutes away, and they had 63 beds sitting empty.
Even better, Volusia now has 473 empty beds – not to worry!
https://bi.ahca.myflorida.com/t/ABICC/views/Public/HospitalBedsCounty?:showAppBanner=false&:display_count=n&:showVizHome=n&:origin=viz_share_link&:isGuestRedirectFromVizportal=y&:embed=y