LEE COUNTY, Fla. — Lee Health is seeing a large increase in COVID-19 hospitalizations. As of July 22, Lee Health is treating 151 COVID patients, four of them are children.
It's a 66-percent increase over the last two weeks. 14 people are in the ICU and seven are on a ventilator. Dr. Stephanie Stovall, Lee Health's Chief Clinical Officer, says they're also seeing more people come into urgent care and the ER, stretching resources in other departments.
"The more patients that need to come into the hospital, the slower it makes it because you have to get a bed prepared for them and get them upstairs," Stovall said.
This is having an impact on staff, forcing Lee Health to expand its staff. This means they may move some nurses to other departments to help take care of sick patients.
"Right now it’s really preparing our staff for knowing that the beds that we have slowed down on are probably going to speed back up again," Stovall explained.
She believes COVID is surging for a number of reasons.
"Certainly behaviors are different over holidays. People are more likely to be close together," Stovall said.
We looked at the positivity rates in Lee, Charlotte, and Collier counties. According to the Florida Department of Health, Lee and Charlotte counties had a positivity rate of at least 23 percent. Collier County is sitting a little below 19 percent.
These figures are from July 8 to July 14 as the DOH releases these numbers every two weeks.
"We’re probably seeing increased transmissibility because of the genetics of the virus itself," Stovall said.
Stovall says bed space is doing fine right now, but they are preparing for potentially more patients.
"At this point are we going to feel that pinch? We probably will feel that pinch," Stovall said. "I don’t expect that it’s going to be as bad as what we saw say 6, 8, 9 months ago."
Due to the surge, Lee Health has lowered the cost of telehealth visits from $49 to $20, which allows people to talk to a doctor online rather than going to the ER or urgent care.
