Hospitals in the Jacksonville area that receive fewer patients with COVID, but are sicker and stay longer

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Over the past month and a half, Jacksonville hospitals have been hosting fewer patients with COVID-19, but health officials tell News4Jax that hospitalized patients are sicker and stay longer.

As Labor Day weekend approaches, Dr. Chirag Patel of UF Health Jacksonville offers a warning that there could be more problems in the coming weeks.

“We’re facing travel and holiday weekend meetings,” Patel said. “It has health care providers nationwide in a state of intensified surveillance.”

With the number of COVID cases in adults, UF Health and other hospitals are still filling up.

“Hospital COVID cases continue to slow, but non-COVID hospitalizations have increased and our hospital occupancy (UF Health) has increased as the weeks go by. We are almost 100% occupancy again,” he said. Patel.

The main concern is related to intensive care units across the city, as they have always been kept full during the most recent climb and people stay longer than in the past.

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“Total recovery does not occur as often as we have seen before. Delta makes you sicker and your symptoms usually last longer, ”Patel said.

As for deaths from COVID reported at local hospitals, spokesmen do not say how many people died until recently. News4Jax learned of cases involving seven child deaths at Wolfson Children’s Hospital when this information was revealed during a town hall meeting.

News4Jax will continue to solicit information from hospitals in the Jacksonville area.