Florida Now Leads The Nation In This Alarming COVID Statistic

Florida is proving just how infectious the Delta variant is as not only have the number of new daily cases in the state hit another record, but it has also broken a record for the number of hospitalizations that was set more than a year ago.

On Sunday, Florida had more than 10,207 people hospitalized with COVID-19, according to the Department of Health and Human Services as reported by CBS News.

Florida is leading the U.S. in per capital hospitalizations of COVID-19 cases, as hospitals across the country report an uptick in the number of patients because of the virus, and in particular, the Delta variant.

Last month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the Delta variant made up 83% of all new COVID-19 cases.

Over the past week, Florida has seen an average of 1,525 adult hospitalizations a day, and 35 daily pediatric hospitalizations. Jason Salemi, an associate professor of epidemiology at the University of South Florida, told CBS News that both are the highest per capita rates in the nation.

Stephanie Derzypolski , Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare's chief communications officer, told the Tallahassee Democrat that the majority of people who are hospitalized are unvaccinated.

In a Facebook post on Sunday, she said, “This is no longer people with co-morbidities in their 70s and 80s but otherwise healthy people in their 20s, 30s and 40s. These people come in begging our doctors for the vaccine but it is too late for them."

The spike in COVID cases comes as the highly contagious Delta variant spreads across the U.S., increasing the number of infections of the virus.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has been criticized for his handling of the COVID crisis as he has resisted mandatory mask mandates in Florida as well as vaccine requirements, in addition to limited local officials’ ability to implement restrictions to prevent the spread of the virus.

DeSantis has also banned students from being required to wear masks when classes resume in the fall.