Pandemic-high levels of COVID-19 infections and hospital bed shortages are prompting restless local leaders and educators across Florida to declare emergencies while Gov. Ron DeSantis still insists none exists.
Palm Beach County on Tuesday became the latest government to sound an alarm, in a push for better hospitalization records. It did not impose any restrictive measures on the public — because a new state law forbids it.
But while officials from South to North Florida scramble to deal with an explosion of COVID cases, DeSantis says a statewide emergency declaration is unwarranted.
“In general, Governor DeSantis only declares states of emergency (at the state level) if doing so would result in concrete benefits for Floridians that could not be accomplished with available resources,” Press Secretary Christina Pushaw told the South Florida Sun Sentinel.
“Many people call for a ‘state of emergency’ without explaining what, exactly, they believe it would accomplish in terms of public health outcomes,” she added.
Broward Mayor Steve Geller says DeSantis should have implemented a state of emergency “weeks ago,” or at least get out of the way and let local leaders decide what’s best for their communities where the virus is raging.
“With all respect to the governor, either his ideology or his politics are now getting in the way of his better judgment,” Geller said.
Other areas of the state that are seeing the soaring COVID cases and hospitalizations among unvaccinated people are not waiting on Tallahassee.
Orange County declared an emergency three weeks ago with an order requiring employees and visitors to wear masks in county facilities. The mayor there said the county had to do its share to limit the spread of the delta variant.
Alachua County Commissioners were holding an emergency COVID meeting Wednesday evening to discuss “the possibility of reinstituting community masking requirements that follow the current CDC guidelines.”
But sweeping mandates are forbidden under a new state law intended to prevent a return to last year’s business shutdowns, local mask mandates and fines for violators.
Opposed by the Florida League of Cities and the state’s Democratic Congressional delegation, the law that took effect July 1 empowers the governor to cancel any orders that are seen as infringing upon “individual rights or liberties.”
Palm Beach County’s move on Tuesday was largely a reaction to reports of hospitals struggling to deal with the influx of COVID-19 patients.
Also concerning: The state Department of Health reported over 9,100 new cases in the county over the past week. That’s a jump from fewer than 1,400 cases during a seven-day period in early July.
Particularly troubling for the commission was hearing that Lakeside Medical Center in Belle Glade already has doubled its ICU capacity to 12 beds and there’s no room for seriously ill patients who come through the door.
“[There should never] be someone in critical care in our beautiful, wealthy county and they cannot get an ICU bed,” County Commissioner Maria Sachs said. “What we have in our hands is a crisis. … Maybe this is a good wake-up call with COVID.”
Under the commission’s order, private hospitals will have to send daily reports to the county about the numbers of COVID patients, available beds, and room in intensive care units. Officials say this information will help officials improve treatment options.
Asked if Palm Beach County commissioners toed the line Tuesday, the governor’s office said early indications are yes because there are no new restrictions on residents or businesses.
“It doesn’t appear that this emergency order violates Florida law,” Pushaw said.
Broward County’s government implemented a similar “emergency directive” on Aug. 5. Approved by County Administrator Bertha Henry, it is supposed “to ensure continued bed capacity at its area hospitals and to ensure local efforts to combat the COVID-19 virus are as effective as possible.”
Broward hospitals reported Monday they are at a breaking point, with beds nearly full and new COVID patients arriving daily. In the county’s 16 hospitals, 98% of regular beds and 99% of ICU beds are occupied.
Dr. Alina Alonso, the state health department director for Palm Beach County, said the real-time reporting would be useful, “not only for the visibility we need from different [medical] sectors, but for the public to understand the critical point that we are in right now.”
Darcy Davis, CEO of the Palm Beach County Health Care District, said receiving daily reports from private hospitals regarding bed availability for COVID-positive patients would give the county much-needed clarity in allocating medical resources.
“In a hurricane or an emergency situation and even today, there’s a dashboard that shows available beds,” Davis said. “The problem is that’s a little bit deceiving because those aren’t beds necessarily for a COVID-positive patient.”
Marc Freeman can be reached at mjfreeman@sunsentinel.com and on Twitter @marcjfreeman.
