Two Florida officials fighting for their lives in ICU following positive COVID-19 tests

Fort Lauderdale, Florida – Two South Florida officials, a Sunrise police sergeant, and a Monroe County commissioner, have been hospitalized after testing positive for COVID-19.

According to Monroe County Commissioner Mike Forster, his colleague is in the ICU at a Miami-Dade hospital. “He’s been intubated and he’s fighting, fighting the best he can so it’s definitely hit home for all of us,” said Foster. “We just have to be careful and get through hopefully what will be the last spike.”

There are still more than 13,000 people hospitalized due to complications from COVID-19, according to state records.

That’s more than three times where Florida stood this time last year.

After the Delta Variant swept across the country at a rapid rate, now the CDC is tracking a new strain, dubbed the Mu Variant. “The concern is that is a has a few, a constellation of mutations, that it would indicate would evade the protection from certain antibodies,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci. “That’s what we mean when we say we’re keeping an eye on it, but right now it is not an immediate threat.”

This year, more officers nationwide have died from COVID-19 than another threat they face on the street. In the past 30 days, five South Florida police officers died after testing positive for the coronavirus.

According to a GoFundMe page set up by his police union, Sunrise Sgt. Darwin Arroyo is currently fighting for his life in an ICU and on a ventilator. Arroyo is a married father of two. According to the page’s organizer, Arroyo was exposed to COVID-19 while at work.