Dozens of Florida Hospital ICUs at Capacity as Coronavirus Cases Spike

As coronavirus cases spike across Florida, dozens of hospitals in the state have announced that their intensive-care units are at capacity and many more warn that they are dangerously low on beds to handle the influx of new virus patients.

At least 56 Florida ICUs have run out of beds for coronavirus patients, and 35 more have said their bed availability has dropped to 10 percent or lower. The news comes as Florida recorded more than 7,300 new coronavirus cases, 380 new coronavirus hospitalizations, and 63 more deaths from the infection.

Despite the rising number of cases, Florida governor Ron DeSantis said Tuesday that the death rate in his state has begun to taper off, noting that most of the new cases are younger patients.

“We are prepared for this,” DeSantis said. “In places like Miami, you’re seeing increased traffic in the hospitals, but it’s interesting, I was down there today, and they said that they’re actually seeing fewer hospitalizations from people in nursing homes, which is obviously a good sign because that’s where the No.1 risk of mortality is.”

Several other states have seen their coronavirus cases surge in recent weeks after they reopened large swaths of their economies. Georgia passed 100,000 positive coronavirus cases on Tuesday, making it the ninth state to reach that number. The same day, California recorded a record daily increase of more than 10,200 new coronavirus cases, as well as a record 6,000 hospitalized patients. Some Texas counties have also warned that their hospital ICUs will run out of beds over the next two weeks.