Demand for testing remains high across Florida

Miami, Florida – The state-reported nearly 70,000 new cases to the CDC on Saturday. Cases of COVID-19 continue to rise across Florida.

According to data shows, the state’s seven-day case average is the highest it has ever been.

According to data from the Department of Health and Human Services, more than 138,000 Americans were hospitalized for COVID-19 as of Saturday, which is nearly double the number of US patients recorded just two weeks ago.

“We’re certainly in a crushing spike right now, but the nature of a pandemic is to come in waves and so I do think at some point the omicron wave will pass, but we have to be wary that there can be further waves down the road,” Dr. Taison Bell, the Asst. Professor of Medicine at the University of Virginia.

Several states, including California, Ohio, and Delaware, have now brought in the National Guard to help with patient care.

Jackson Memorial Hospital in South Florida, sending out a tweet, saying of their 499 Covid-positive patients, a little more than half were admitted for non-Covid reasons.

“We are seeing a virus evolve in real-time, and each phase of this is different and requires a different response and a different reaction,” said Kathleen Sebelius, Former HHS Secretary.

Amid this current case surge, school districts, including Miami-Dade County, now figuring out ways to cover staffing shortages.

“We must keep our schools open,” said Keri Rodrigues, President, and Co-Founder of the National Parents Union. “They are essential. They are not nice to have, they are must-haves.”

The rapid rise in infections has caused a huge demand for testing. As officials handed out free, at-home test kits, drivers lined up bright and early on Saturday in both Miami-Dade and Broward Counties.