From the Orange County Newsroom and AdventHealth
AdventHealth Orlando Chief Medical Officer Dr. Victor Herrera discussed the latest COVID-19 development Monday morning at Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings’ news conference.
AdventHealth’s Central Florida Division continues to see a significant and swift increase in COVID-19 cases in its hospitals throughout Orange, Osceola, Seminole, Lake, Polk, Volusia and Flagler counties. Additionally, the daily positivity rate at AdventHealth Centra Care remains at near all-time highs.
This is in line with Orange County's reporting. As of Saturday, July 24, 2021, the Florida Department of Health is reporting that Orange County’s 14-day rolling positivity rate is over 14% percent. On June 28, 2021 the rate was 4.28%.
Orange County is seeing roughly 1,000 COVID-19 cases a day.
61.59% of county residents 12 years old and up have been vaccinated.
The total positive cases is 160,222 in Orange County and 1,383 deaths.
Mayor Demings strongly recommends that Orange County citizens get vaccinated, wear facial coverings, socially distance, wash their hands frequently, and follow CDC guidelines. For vaccination information and locations, visit the county’s website, www.ocfl.net/vaccine.
EMERGENCY RENTAL ASSISTANCE PROGRAM
Orange County’s Emergency Rental Assistance Program is still assisting residents who are behind in rent due to the pandemic. The program may be able to help eligible residents pay 12 months of past due rent and 1 month of future rent, up to a total of $20,000. To date, nearly $4 million dollars has been paid out to keep families in their homes – and Orange County has more to provide.
The program is not available for those living within the direct city limits of the City of Orlando, which has its own program for its residents. Residents can visit ocfl.net/RentalAssistance to review program details and to check if their address is eligible.
AdventHealth also shared they have 862 COVID-19 inpatients across the Central Florida Division, as of Monday morning, July 26. This is near the peak of about 900 the health system saw in January.
In response, AdventHealth will defer non-time-sensitive elective outpatient surgeries at hospitals throughout the Central Florida Division effective Tuesday, July 27. (An example of a non-time-sensitive elective outpatient surgery would be an elective knee surgery.)
Patients will be notified if their procedure will be rescheduled.
Preapproval from campus medical leadership is required for non-time-sensitive/urgent or non-emergent procedures
Outpatient surgery sites can continue as scheduled
Other procedure sites, such as cath and endoscopy, can continue as scheduled
Pediatric surgeries can continue without limitation
AdventHealth is taking these measures, which mirror those made earlier in the pandemic, to safeguard our physicians and team members, and greater community.
Patient safety, safety of the entire health care team and the ability to care for our community remain the tenets of this and all decisions. We will continuously evaluate these limitations to ensure all are safeguarded.
Q: Is hospital capacity at risk?
A: While the rising number of hospitalized patients is evidence of the risk still posed by the virus in our community, it is not cause for alarm in terms of hospital capacity. Our hospitals are designed in such a way that spaces are flexible and expandable. AdventHealth has an extensive health care system in place in Central Florida so we can locate patients to the facility that best matches the level of care they need.
Q: Do you have enough supplies and ventilators?
A: We have sufficient supplies of ventilators, monitors and other specialized equipment in order to quickly convert spaces in the hospital to both standard and ICU level rooms, should they be needed.
Q: What percentage of COVID inpatients are vaccinated?
A: Some 94% of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 across AdventHealth’s nationwide system are unvaccinated.
Q: Is AdventHealth administering COVID vaccines?
A: AdventHealth continues to offer COVID vaccines for the public at six Centra Care locations. AdventHealth also is offering COVID vaccines to inpatients at its hospitals throughout the Central Florida Division.
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