UF Health Jacksonville preparing in case of rise of COVID-19 cases

Jacksonville, FL — As Florida sees a surge in newly diagnosed coronavirus cases, local hospitalizations are not climbing anywhere close to that rate.

See a county-by-county breakdown of hospital, ICU bed availability

Dr. David Caro with UF Health Jacksonville’s Department of Emergency Medicine says the University of Florida prediction models forecast a bump in COVID-19 hospitalizations and ICU bed need through July and into August.

“So we do expect that this kind of tail end of the first wave we’re still going to see a rise in numbers. And it’s kind of coincident with the opening up of the state and doing more face to face contact, we’re starting to see it spread through the community a little bit more”, Caro told Jacksonville’s Morning News.

In general, Dr. Caro says the illness is less severe in younger patients, but he cited a number of cases of young people who have needed ICU care, and have even died in the United States.

Caro says both the PCR test and the antibody test are valuable, in different ways.

LISTEN: Dr. David Caro, UF Health Jacksonville Department of Emergency Medicine

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