Cases of COVID-19 and hospitalizations continue to rise in Florida

Pembroke Pines, Florida – By now close to 17,000 people are currently hospitalized with COVID-19 across the state. Of those patients, 53 percent are in the ICU.

According to officials reports, many of the patients with COVID-19 have not been vaccinated.

Last week monoclonal antibody sites opened in South Florida at Tropical Park in Miami and C.B. Smith Park in Pembroke Pines.

According to Maggie Hansen, the Chief Nursing Officer with Memorial Healthcare System, during an appearance on this week in South Florida those medical professionals are continuing to battle vaccine hesitancy.

“I think some of the reasons people have waited is because they wanted to see what happened to other people,” Hansen said. “Eight months have passed now, and we have seen that vaccines are highly effective, and that they are the means to the end of this pandemic.”

According to Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, in the next few days as many as 21 treatment sites will open in the state.

The testing sites at Tropical Park and C.B. Smith Park are open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.