TAMPA -- The director of the health department in Hillsborough County says the county's COVID positivity rate appears to be plateauing.
But Dr. Douglas Holt, head of the Health Department in Hillsborough, says community transmission remains high and "the risk of infectivity is anywhere and any time,"
Holt's presentation showed Hillsborough, with a case rate of more than 120 per 100,000, is higher than the state average and leads neighboring counties except Pasco. He says the Delta variant is responsible for 96 percent of cases, and that vaccinated people exposed to the Delta variant become contagious. He acknowledged that contradicted what he told the board earlier in the year..
Since June, 85 percent of those hospitalized with COVID are unvaccinated, and 90 percent of deaths in Hillsborough are among the unvaccinated. He says the case rates are now highest among children, teens, and young adults under 25. Hillsborough has about 250 COVID patients in intensive care units.
Right now staffing is the biggest problem for hospitals, Holt said. The supply of liquid oxygen is low but adequate. Water treatment plants have changed to chlorine disinfection to allow more into the supply. Monoclonal antibodies, available at the Fairgrounds and through private doctors, are helping.
Commissioner Pat Kemp called it painful to see the surge of COVID cases and deaths. "We're just surging away with COVID... we can't say enough (about) getting your vaccine,:" Kemp said.
Photo: Hillsborough County Board of County Commissioners