Another indication that COVID cases are on the rise: AdventHealth Central Florida is reporting an increase in cases in their hospitals and ICUs. Chief Scientific Officer Dr. Steven Smith says that's due in part to the new variants.
"Particularly the Delta- we saw it was coming- we knew very early on that delta was on its way up," Dr. Smith said, "and Gamma is on its way up, too."
Dr. Smith says the key to avoid COVID is to get vaccinated and he says the Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines are all effective against the variants.
"We know this from big surveillance studies that are done not only here in the U.S. but in places like Israel- you may have read about those- and being able to track people after they're vaccinated."
Dr. Smith says the coronavirus is still evolving and we will continue to see more variants.
Health officials say the Delta Variant is the dominant strain of COVID-19 in Florida and is present in 34 counties- more than half of the 67 counties in the state.
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