On August 5, 2021 Alachua County Commission Chair Ken Cornell signed a Declaration of a State of Emergency in Alachua County due to the alarming spike in COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and the severity of the Delta variant.
This most recent surge of COVID-19 infections has placed an unprecedented strain on local emergency health care resources. Hospital admissions of patients experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 escalated quickly towards the end of July and have currently peaked at over 350 patients amongst the three hospitals with the overwhelming majority at UF Health and North Florida Regional Medical Center. As such, local hospitals have created additional bed space by reducing or eliminating elective surgeries, bringing in additional staff and opening more floors.
Alachua County is fortunate to have a robust regional hospital system and we enjoy the benefits of an excellent partnership. Over the last few days staff from the County and the hospitals have worked together and have been finding solutions for this unprecedented crisis. Beginning August 6th, our citizens will be able to view daily hospital census counts on the Alachua County dashboard. Keeping privacy matters in mind, the dashboard cannot display some details but will show total daily bed counts of admitted patients experiencing symptoms of COVID-19.
Our community Emergency Rooms are open if you need them, but please keep in mind they are seeing patient numbers that are unprecedented in our area.
Finally, we ask that you keep those that are ill, and men and women who are caring for them in your thoughts and prayers.
Visit the Alachua County COVID-19 DashboardFor more information, contact Alachua County Communications Director Mark Sexton at 352-264-6979 or
msexton@alachuacounty.us.
