Admissions at AdventHealth Palm Coast hospitals in central Florida, which had reached record levels in the fourth Covid wave, crested seven days ago, and have been falling each day since–slightly, but visibly.
Covid deaths and school infections are another matter. The Flagler Health Department’s Bob Snyder today reported that as of Monday, covid-related deaths of Flagler residents totaled 164 deaths, an increase of 10 over the week, bringing the total to 50 reported just in the month of August. (The reporting date and the date of death may vary.) Five of the deaths occurred over the weekend.
“All these deaths are of Flagler residents and some reflect folks who succumbed at another hospital out of county, someone who passed in a long term care facility, at home or under the care of hospice,” Snyder wrote in an email.
For Saturday, Sunday and Monday, the school district reported 166 student infections, by far the highest total recorded on any reporting day, bringing the total student infections to 612. The district was on pace to accumulate twice as many infections in its first four weeks as it experienced all of last year. Infections automatically require a quarantine for the student, and also most of those deemed close contacts (those close contacts who are vaccinated or who have had covid in the previous 90 days and show no symptoms are exempt from quarantining).
“I was amazed to hear that just for school based cases, 2,400 close contacts were generated,” Snyder said. So between actual infections and close contacts, a fifth of the district’s 13,000 students have been affected so far. So far this year Belle Terre Elementary has tallied the most infections, with 100, or 10 more than Flagler Palm Coast High School. Children younger than 12 cannot be vaccinated. The district does not have a mask mandate in place, as it did last year.
Infections among district staff have been more controlled, with seven over the weekend and a total of 66 since the beginning of the year, 10 of them at FPC. Infections reported through the school district do not necessarily mean that the infections took place at school.
Reported community infections at large continue to be high, with a record 243 infections confirmed on Aug. 25 alone. Since then, the daily number of confirmations has declined each day: 122, 107, 97, 79.
After reaching 97 hospitalizations at AdventHealth Palm Coast just over a week ago, admissions were down to 77 on Monday–still very high, but a pronounced decline from the worst of the crisis. The decline is prompting an easing of crisis status.
“Although the Covid-19 inpatient census remains high, the AdventHealth Central Florida Division is starting to experience an improved outlook as admissions continue to slow,” Dr. Neil J. Finkler, AdventHealth Central Florida Division’s Chief Clinical Officer, wrote staffers today. “As such, the Central Florida Division will transition to Red Status effective Wednesday, Sept. 1, through, at least, Sunday, Sept. 5.”
Red Status means that there are still limits on non-time-sensitive elective outpatient surgeries, preapproval required for all non-time-sensitive, urgent or non-emergent procedures while outpatient surgery sites and pediatric surgeries continue as scheduled.
The AdventHealth Central Florida Division also changed its visitation procedures for patients nearing death or presenting with special circumstances. Regardless of their Covid-19 status, these patients may have two visitors at a time. Special circumstances may include patients 18 and older who are dependent on family or personal caregiver due to emotional, cognitive, or functional disabilities, and patients without an advance directive for whom family or legally authorized person support is required for discussions regarding complex care planning, the system announced today.
On Monday, a Florida House member, Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith, an Orlando Democrat, and the Florida Center for Government Accountability, filed suit against the Florida Department of Health, which has declined to release the sort of detailed statewide and county-by-county covid-related data it used to release until June 4. The Miami Herald today, following up on a report by the Sun_Sentinel earlier this month, reported that the state has also altered the way it reports covid-related deaths in such a way as to mask the severity of the tally: the daily deaths the state is reporting is significantly lower than the actual numbers.
The Flagler Health Department’s vaccination and covid-testing schedule appears below. (Testing hours today are over.)
Health Department’s Covid Testing and Vaccination Schedule and Information for Today Through Labor Day:
Testing has resumed at the Flagler County Fairgrounds (150 Sawgrass Road, Bunnell) weekdays from 8AM to 12 noon and weekends from 9AM to 11AM.
Priority will be given to any students, faculty and school staff of public or private schools in Flagler County, followed by the general public, who need testing appointments by calling 386-437-7350 ext. 0.
All individuals and families should consider the following when testing with DOH-Flagler.
- Testing should take place at least 3 to 5 days after exposure. Testing sooner than this may result in false negatives.
- Plan ahead and expect long lines. Bring snacks and drinks in the car, as well as books or toys to keep kids entertained while waiting for your turn.
- Wear a mask inside the testing facility. Should you test positive, you may be asked to exit the facility and wait for the rest of your party outside to avoid transmission.
- DOH employees and volunteers have been working extended hours to keep pace with the exponential demand for testing and the record-breaking number of positive COVID cases we are experiencing. We are expanding our team to help with testing, contact tracing and case investigation, and appreciate your patience during this challenging time.
- Since it may take some time for case investigators and contact tracers to reach you when/if you or your child tests positive for COVID-19, you should take initiative to protect your loved ones. You or your child will need to isolate for 10 days from the onset of symptoms. Talk with close contacts like family members on your own to ask them to get tested and watch for symptoms.
- If you are identified as a close contact to a person who tests positive, there is a possibility the health department may not connect with you if resources are not available.
- If you have been vaccinated (two weeks after your final dose) you will not need to quarantine if you do not have symptoms.
- If you have symptoms, you should get tested three to five days after exposure.
The weekday testing schedule through September 6 follows:
Wednesday, September 1 8AM to 12 noon Flagler County Fairgrounds
Thursday, September 2 8AM to 12 noon Flagler County Fairgrounds
Friday, September 3 8AM to 12 noon Flagler County Fairgrounds
Sunday, September 5 8AM to 12 noon Flagler County Fairgrounds
Monday, September 6 CLOSED for Labor Day Holiday
As a reminder, the health department does not offer testing for travel verification.
Vaccinations continue to be offered at 301 Dr. Carter Blvd three afternoons a week — Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday from 3:30 to 6:00PM well into September. Appointments are preferred; Walk-ins are welcome.
The health department is awaiting additional guidance for the administration of booster doses and expects to add vaccinations to its operation at the Flagler County Fairgrounds next month. Details will be shared when plans are finalized. Currently, CVS, Walgreens, Publix and Walmart offer boosters to immuno-compromised individuals.
For more information about Covid-19 vaccination and testing locally, please visit flagler.floridahealth.gov. For testing and vaccine appointments, please call 386-437-7350 ext. 0 weekdays between 8AM and 4:30PM.
There is a lot of concern/confusion about vaccine effectiveness against the delta variant. How effective are the vaccines against Delta & how to interpret real-world observational data? So much misinformation is being circulated, so this thread brings key data together. 🧵(1/n)
— Muge Cevik (@mugecevik) August 24, 2021
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mausborn says
Anti Vaxxers Cry for Medical help & receive Federal Aid when Infected with Covid19. Their Family & Friends say … “They should’ve stopped watching Fox and got Vaccinated.”
trailer bob says
Fox isn’t telling people not to wear masks or that the virus isn’t actually a virus…just saying…Unless your brain is disabled, it is up to each individual to take care of themselves and their loved ones and neighbors. But it is not the fear of getting covid for my wife and I…it is how much the norms of our lives have change in a very, very weird way.
We choose living over trying to appease people so that they will accept us…heard mentality isn’t actually my definition of logical thinking…take care and do what you need to do to make it through this period of stress and misinformation.
Tony Mack says
What nonsense…
“Fox isn’t telling people not to wear masks or that the virus isn’t actually a virus…just saying…”
Another week, another Tucker Carlson controversy.
The divisive Fox News host is being accused of inciting lawlessness after telling his millions of viewers Monday night to confront strangers who choose to wear masks in public and call 911 if they see kids wearing a mask.
In another falsehood-filled segment on his right-wing show, Carlson questioned the scientific consensus that masks help slow the spread of COVID-19, described mask-wearing as a “sign of political obedience” and attacked those who choose to cover their faces outside as “zealots and neurotics.” He then encouraged his audience to confront mask-wearing strangers, calling them “the aggressors.”
“So the next time you see someone in a mask on the sidewalk or on the bike path, do not hesitate. Ask politely but firmly, ‘Would you please take off your mask? Science shows there is no reason for you to be wearing it. Your mask is making me uncomfortable,’” Carlson said.
Anyone who has ever served in the military understands that the unit is the important thing…not the individual. In a critical situation, if one member of the unit fails, we all fail and people die. I’ve ben there, I’ve seen it…it cannot possible work if the unit does not work together and if you will not work together then we do not want you in our unit.
Those who continually speak about their individuality, their freedom to do for themselves, will never understand how important it is to act together for the whole…not the individual.
Think about the beauty of an orchestral presentation — the violins, the oboes, the cellos, the horns, the drums…each with their own notes, their own part of the whole to make the 1812 Overture sound as it does. Now imagine if each instrument decided to go its own way, to play the notes only it wanted to play…how would that rendition sound?
That’s what we have now. For whatever reason some individuals decided that their fate is not linked to the millions of other Americans and they will do nothing to make the whole better. Many of them will die and more’s the pity. We are indeed as Abraham Lincoln stated — “a Nation Divided” and thus we cannot stand.
Justsayin says
What is the death rate for under 18 in the county?
Deborah Coffey says
That’s what we need to know.
The Truth says
DeSantis doesn’t care about these reports in fact he wants them hidden from the public, and he thinks people will want him as President, no way not when he can’t even take care of the State he is Governor of.
Of course, there will be those die heart Cult GOP supporters that don’t care about his careless actions or the lives that died because of it.
DeSantis is too busy counting the money the corporations are donating to his campaign, that is his priority and forgets he is still Governor of Florida. The voters won’t forget and he is too ignorant to that.
I will never understand why these ego hungry clowns run for political positions and talk the talk to get elected and once they do they could careless about helping the people that voted for them. They all shut the door on people at that point.
trailer bob says
Most people are smart enough not to listen to BS that they deem incorrect. We are all free to make our own decisions, stupid or not. But sure…seem people have gotten pretty dumbed down in the last two decades, and it didn’t take COVID.
cgm says
cases are dropping, thats why I see the grey unmarked helicopter flying around again. Has anybody else noticed it?
Stz Gists says
The CDC stresses that you always have to carry your Coronavirus vaccine card report with you anywhere you go. What they did not tell you is that carrying the card everywhere you go will lead to it wearing out in no time. No one seems to be addressing this issue and I know by now some people’s cards are already getting worn out. However, it is imperative that you have your vaccine card with you when going out but, it does not have to be a hard copy you can make a digital copy.
Justsayin says
Again, how many under 18 years old have died in the county? Or doesn’t the answer not fit the narrative.
Ray W. says
Look it up. I did. The answer fits the narrative. I expect better from you in the future.
Justsayin says
There are 74.2 million kids under the age of 18. As of last week there 361 deaths of covid 19 in the age group since the beginning of the pandemic. During the 18/19 flu season, there were 480 deaths in the same age group. Facts from the beloved and trusted CDC
Ray W. says
According to a September 1 publication, the CDC reports that between January 4th and August 28th, 470 persons aged 18 and under died due to Covid-19, not justsayin’s 361 since the beginning of the pandemic. This is just under 60 per month on average, and we experienced a significant lull in Covid-19 deaths during much of the year due to vaccination efforts until the Delta variant spread across the country. If the pandemic eventually meets the definition of an endemic, in significant part due to resistance by anti-vaxxers and anti-maskers, with new variants emerging from all parts of the world, this number is likely to increase. The argument, and perhaps false hope, is that Covid-19 can be stopped short of it becoming an endemic, through herd immunity gained as a direct result of mass vaccinations.
Polio, without vaccines, met the definition of an endemic, year after year killing thousands and permanently injuring tens of thousands. “Iron lungs”, as a previous poster described, was a common phrase in the national lexicon, one that entered historical status after a national concerted vaccination effort. As I commented before, as a child, I recall listening while standing in my elementary school cafeteria, one of six siblings who received a vaccine from a nurse who explained to my mother that, as memory recalls, two out of 50,000 children would die from side-effects of the vaccine. She also explained that a much larger number would die without the vaccine. My mother signed. As I listened, I recall thinking I could die from this? But I took the shot.
Justsayin clearly uses his last sentence as an attempt to spread distrust of the CDC. Perhaps, trust in the CDC was different then, but trust or distrust is not the issue, when one of the hardest things to do in life is to not fool ourselves, as Wittgenstein put it. One of the basic concepts of Reidian philosophy is that the uneducable become uneducable when they persuade themselves to reject the idea of forming credulity for another person or institution. The ability to form credulity for another person or institution means that one is capable of believing that another person or institution possesses the ability to speak, know and understand the truth about a particular subject matter. Only when one forms credulity for another can one learn from that other. Justsayin appears to have placed himself into the category of the uneducable. And, since he can’t be trusted with the numbers he posts, no one should form credulity for his comments, thereby depriving him of credibility.
Many of our founding fathers were exposed to Reidian philosophy during their educations, as Thomas Reid published his work in 1762; it swept through Great Britain, the American colonies and Europe. Reid is considered to be one the founding fathers of the “Common Sense” era. Thomas Paine’s pamphlet was originally titled something else, until he was persuaded to name it “Common Sense.” The question is whether common sense is a process or a result. If common sense is a process, then each of us has to go through it, using all available resources. If it is a result, then someone else can tell us what it is, so we don’t have to educate ourselves; we simply have to accept words from people like justsayin, in a naive’ and foolhardy effort, because people like justsayin will change numbers and claim whatever they want to advance their narrative, which in the end is to spread distrust. If anyone wants to trust the distrustful, that is their choice.
Justsayin says
https://www.statista.com/statistics/1191568/reported-deaths-from-covid-by-age-us/
https://www.cdc.gov/flu/about/burden/2018-2019.html
If you do not like the source Statista, Please call Goggle and complain they are spreading misinformation or disinformation. ( whatever the buzz word of theweek is). They are the #1 sponsor of this website. And yes, The CDC has become a political agency. Don’t believe it, they have become the word police now.https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9937093/CDCs-woke-new-language-guide-proposes-replacing-dehumanizing-words-like-ELDERLY.html
But facts are facts, The young have a much better chance of recovering from Covid than any other age group. My point from the beginning.
Ray W. says
I posted some time ago about a lawyer filing a motion on behalf of a client that is intended to help the client learn from losing the argument. The old legal phrase is: Sometimes you win by losing. I purposely used this approach with Justsayin.
I was hoping you would expose yourself to FlaglerLive readers as a person so zealous in pursuit of an argument that you could not realize exactly what was being advanced as an argument. You begin your thread by asking how many Flagler children have died from Covid-19. By the misleading and minimizing nature of your initial question and by the point you add in your second question that the narrative is more important than the number, I called you out on it. by asserting the number does fit the narrative without giving a number. You leapt by providing a number, but described it as less than those who died from the flu virus in one season. I called you out a second time, challenging your number and you leapt again. By this simple process, you began arguing that, in effect, we accept that children die from Covid-19 infections because children also die from the flu (361 versus 480), while spreading distrust of the CDC at the same time (“Facts from the beloved and trusted CDC”). At best, such an argument is callous (“showing or having an insensitive and cruel disregard for others” Dictionary.com).
To more specifically develop this point, I reiterate that in one part of your thread, you compare the number of children who have died from infection with the Covid-19 virus, including all its variants, from the start of the pandemic as fewer than those who have died from the flu in the season spanning 2018-19. The major flaw in such an argument is that the flu is an endemic disease, in that it occurs every year no matter what vaccine is developed and distributed. One of several reasons for this status is that the efficacy of flu vaccines vary from year to year, with few flu vaccines effective against all four versions of the flu, and the many variants of each of the four versions of the flu due to “antigenic drift” that spread around the world each year. In some years, the effectiveness rate of the flu vaccine is significantly less than 50%. The best we can hope for is a reduction in the severity of flu symptoms, and concurrent deaths, including child deaths, and to lessen the spread of the various flu infections, never to stop the flu. In comparison, the effectiveness rates for the Covid-19 vaccines are all reported to be in excess of 80%, even the Chinese and Russian versions. Thus, the hope from the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, as foundation for the plan adopted against it, was that an effective vaccine could be rapidly developed and widely distributed in time to allow the world to stamp out the disease entirely, before it could evolve into ever more efficient and deadly spreading variants that eventually meet the definition of an endemic disease. The world accomplished this feat with the original SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) virus, which is why Covid-19 is also known as SARS-CoV-2. The flu is not defined as this type of a severe acute respiratory syndrome disease.
In other words, the goal was to stop the spread of the Covid-19 virus through an initial societal shut-down to slow the early spread of the virus until vaccines could be developed, followed by world-wide use of vaccinations when developed, and continuing wide-spread masking and social distancing. Consistent with this approach, the Trump administration titled the vaccine development program “Project Warp Speed” and pumped billions of dollars into the development of the vaccines and the Biden administration pumped billions more into a vaccine distribution effort. We know we cannot stop the flu. We do not yet know whether we can stop Covid-19.
I concede that you might be correct in the implied assumption that Covid-19 is now and always was an endemic disease and therefore comparable to the flu virus. Since we may never reach the level of vaccine distribution necessary to achieve herd immunity in this country, much less worldwide, in part because of efforts of people like you, we may find enough Covid-19 variants emerging through the spread of the virus among some 8 billion people that vaccines will never be able to catch up, warp-speed or not. Eventually, you might be proved right. Right now, you are colossally wrong without even knowing it.
In summary, your initial and repeated question about the number of Flagler County children who had died from Covid-19 exposed your intentions, since you had to know at the time of each of those two postings that many children throughout the country had died from the virus. I pointed that out. You leaped at the chance in your zealous attempt to prove me wrong. You took the bait – hook, line and sinker. Sadly, many more children will die if we can’t throttle the disease. You are part of the problem.
Whenever I first met with a client, part of interview included my four rules to the practice of law, complete with the explanation that I did not have the right to be reckless with their lives, which I defined in part as my role included giving advice, which the client always had the right to reject. The client’s role was to make the final decision as to what to risk, after considering my advice. I told each client from the outset that I would always take a cautious approach to their cases. The client had the right to be reckless. I told many of them that no one could know what any juror would do and that some people possess a burning itch to harm others and will say anything to get on a jury. The client might see a smile on a juror’s face as they make eye contact and think the juror is sympathetic to the client’s situation. I cautioned all clients that jurors are capable of smiling at a client as the juror contemplates what he or she intends to do to the client. We have a word for that: subterfuge (“deceit used to achieve one’s goals” Dictionary.com). Is Justsayin being reckless in his or her repeated efforts to compare Covid-19 deaths among infected children with flu deaths among infected children? Is he or she engaging in a subterfuge to mislead FlaglerLive readers into distrusting the CDC? Does he or she possess a burning itch to harm other people? Which is the better approach? Cautious advice or callous conclusion?
It is callous for you to imply that not enough of other people’s children have yet to die from the Covid-19 virus and its several variants when you compare the prior Covid-19 deaths of other people’s children to those children who died from all four versions of one flu season’s viruses and their many variants. Our children do not have to die from Covid-19. Covid-19 might still be completely contained and then stopped. The CDC’s cautious advice can still be implemented with success. Our society’s numerous callous people are being reckless with our children’s lives. We have the capacity to reject bad advice from callous people, but perhaps not the ability to do so.
“… [N]ever send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.” John Donne.
trailer bob says
Most people are smart enough not to listen to BS that they deem incorrect. We are all free to make our own decisions, stupid or not. But sure…seem people have gotten pretty dumbed down in the last two decades, and it didn’t take COVID.
Ann Bruchmann says
I am confused – if the vaccine protects you from covid, then why are you wearing a mask? And if the vaccine, the mask and social distancing all provide protection from covid then why are you concerned about the un-vaccinated? It certainly is a puzzle!
Pierre Tristam says
The puzzle is that after hundreds of thousands of articles and millions of words all around, commenters still disingenuously claim puzzlement at what they already know, but seek to deny: that vaccines don’t provide protection from covid but provide significant protection from serious illness and death, that those who wear masks are primarily protecting others, not themselves, a concept that may be difficult to grasp for the the self-absorbed anti-maskers, and that social distancing, like all other measures, are only parts of the mitigating strategy, none of which is perfect, all of which together result in what we see in more willing, less idiotic East Asian societies: minimal infections, fully functioning societies and economies. Why the likes of this commenter continue to deny the obvious is the puzzle.
Ann Bruchmann says
Thank you for your response. Although our opinions differ, I find it puzzling that in your attempt to assure me of your expertise in the matter, you resort to name-calling to support what you’ve said. I don’t believe that is necessary. I am neither self-absorbed nor idiotic. I do, however, search and research for accurate information from reliable sources who are not in it for the money.
FlaglerLive says
Opinions differ. Facts don’t. You’re playing the reductive game of calling it all opinion and absolving yourself of the responsibility to do what’s right. We’re surrounded by facts and dead bodies. To not responsibly connect the two and easily–and conclusively–see what would significantly (and easily) reduce the death toll is not only idiotic, but morally delinquent. Name-calling is the least of my worries at this point. Between lives and Victorian manners, I think lives are more important.
Sherry says
Thank you Tony Mack, Pierre and Ray W!
The common thread that is obvious on the “other side” of the discussion is the rather lame ploy used incessantly by FOX talking heads. . . “asking questions” when you know the factual answer, but choose to ignore those facts. . . because your actual intent is to try and convince the weak minded otherwise. Legally that trick helps to keep FOX out of trouble : “I didn’t lie. . . I just asked a question”.
The “most people are smart enough not to listen”. . . argument is spouted again and again by trump’s whacked out attorney ole’ Sidney Powell and her attorneys on FOX. However, it’s not likely going to work as any kind of valid argument in court during the voting machine law suits.
While there was a time I trusted our fellow citizens to be smart enough to see through the BS that is present to “some extent” on all news outlets, that is no longer the case for me personally. It is my belief that Rupert Murdoch’s “King Maker/political power broker” attitude steered FOX into intentionally pushing the envelope when it comes to the whole “truth”. Therefore, the millions of people that have tuned into FOX “exclusively” for their understanding of the world for the past 10-20 years, have become indoctrinated into the underworld of distorted half facts and conspiracy theories. . . . all too often leading to paranoia and defensive anger. The FOX BS is now being propagated and is spreading like wild fire on social media platforms like Facebook.
trump was smart to tap into that under served, emotionally volatile, segment of our population . . . the FOX/trump cult was born. Unfortunately the cult is still thriving today, and we are all diminished by it to some extent:
. Anti- Vaxers
. Anti-Maskers
. White Supremacists
. Conspiracy Theorists
. Q Anon
. Insurrectionists
. Fascists
. Autocrats
ETC. ETC. ETC.
We must stay the course, speak out against fear and hate, encourage everyone to “do the right thing” for the “common good”. . . AND VOTE!