There’s only 1 way to stop the COVID-19 surge (Yes, even as Florida records break)

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You may have heard that Florida's having a hard time dealing with COVID-19. This past weekend alone has been record-shattering for most COVID cases and most COVID hospitalizations. Hospitals are literally running out of rooms and are therefore forced to keep patients in hallways. But there's one surefire way to stop the COVID-19 surge, according to officials and doctors.

This article analyzes Florida's recent COVID-19 surge, along with what government officials and medical professionals say we can do to slow the outbreak.

Florida Broke COVID-19 Records This Past Weekend

Unfortunately for Florida, we've become the COVID-19 hotspot in the country. Florida residents watched as this past weekend, our beloved state broke a few critical COVID-19 records, giving Florida a turn for the worst.

On Saturday, Florida had 21,683 new daily cases for COVID-19. This is the most daily case for COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic...last year!

If that wasn't bad enough, Florida also broke hospitalizations records, leaving many hospital workers, nurses, doctors, and staff extremely overwhelmed. On Sunday, Florida documented 10,207 patients who were hospitalized with COVID-19.

This is the highest number of hospitalizations the state had had since July of 2020, when we recorded 10,170 patients in the hospital. Keep in mind, July of 2020 was before vaccinations were even released. Furthermore, there are more people in their early adult years who are struggling in the hospital.

Dr. Samer Fahmy commented on the horrors that hospitals are facing:

“We have had patients in their 20s gasping for air and getting intubated. We've had, unfortunately, young mothers who get very sick and lose their babies in the midst of a pregnancy.

So, with vaccines on the market, so to speak, we have more people currently in the hospital with COVID-19. To many, that doesn't make sense. But to doctors and officials, it makes perfect sense.

USF professor, Jason Salemi, commented:

“You have a lot of vulnerable people in Florida, and then you couple that with a general relaxation of mitigation strategies like mask-wearing and social distancing — and so, unfortunately, this ends up being the result."

1 Way to Stop the COVID-19 Surge

Many doctors, officials, and even Governor DeSantis himself are in agreement: the one thing that you can do to protect yourself and others is to get vaccinated. The problem is that not many Florida residents are fully vaccinated. In fact, according to US Facts, only 48% of Florida residents are fully vaccinated against COVID.

Screenshot by the author from US Facts

Governor DeSantis has commented on this multiple times, in multiple press conferences:

"Moreover, nearly 95% of those admitted to hospitals with the disease aren’t fully vaccinated. These vaccines are saving lives. They are reducing mortality."

Doctors are worried that Florida residents are not taking vaccination measures seriously and that the outbreak will only worsen. As Delta, the latest and most troublesome COVID-19 variant, spreads through the state, it is targeting young, unvaccinated people as well as the elderly and those who are high-risk.

Dr. Fahmy commented on the importance of both vaccines and mitigation measures:

“We need this to end, and the best way we know how to do that is through vaccination and some of the mitigation measures."

Unfortunately, about half of the state is not fully vaccinated, which leads Florida very vulnerable to COVID. Furthermore, the increased hospitalizations have put major stress on healthcare workers yet again.

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