Escambia County COVID-19 Update #252

Updated at 3:15 p.m. Jan. 6:

For prior updates, visit myescambia.com/news#coronavirus and search by keyword: coronavirus.

Ascension Sacred Heart

Escambia County

• Hospital Information totals
  • Hospitalizations 268 (current hospitalizations as of 2:30 p.m. Jan. 6, 2021)
  • Bed Capacity 1,397 (as of 10:48 a.m. Jan. 6, 2021 (county SITREP)
  • Bed Occupancy 1,143 (as of 10:48 a.m. Jan. 6, 2021 (county SITREP) 
  • Beds Available 353 (as of 2:30 p.m. Jan. 6, 2021)
  • Total Ventilators 215 (as of 2:30 p.m. Jan. 6, 2021)
  • Available Ventilators 142 (as of 2:30 p.m. Jan. 6, 2021)
  • Recovered 22,725* (Approximate: total cases prior to last month minus deaths)
  • To view the county's Crude Case-Recovery Risk and a detailed explanation of the formula by which it is calculated, visit the Escambia County COVID-19 dashboard. The current Crude Case-Recovery Risk is 98.2% (as of 2:30 p.m. Jan. 6, 2021)
  • As of Monday, Jan. 4, there have been 4,243 vaccinations distributed throughout the entire county. (via the Florida Department of Health in Escambia County, hospitals, closed points of disbursements, independent living facilities, long-term care facilities and pilot programs). This number has been added to the Escambia County COVID-19 dashboard.

• Testing sites
• Rapid testing information
• Escambia County dashboard

Escambia County Corrections

• Cumulatively, 912 Escambia County inmates have been tested:
  • 225 positive (196 have been medically cleared, and 18 have been released from custody, leaving 11 active, positive cases at this time)
  • 687 negative
  • 0 pending
• At the Walton County jail, 29 Escambia County inmates tested positive out of the 146 inmates housed there.  

Florida Department of Health in Escambia County

• FDOH-Escambia announced its COVID-19 Vaccination Program. COVID-19 vaccines are currently being prioritized for health care providers with direct patient contact and persons 65 years of age and older. If you are in one of these groups and interested in receiving a vaccine, please complete the Vaccination Request Form. Completion of this form confirms interest in vaccination. It does not secure an appointment for vaccination. FDOH-Escambia will schedule appointments based on supply availability. At this time, FDOH-Escambia’s COVID-19 vaccination appointments have reached capacity. When vaccine supply becomes available, FDOH-Escambia staff will resume scheduling appointments. We encourage residents to take advantage of opportunities offered through other partners to get vaccinated.

• FDOH-Escambia’s testing site is free to all Florida residents with or without symptoms. Pre-screening is not required. COVID-19 testing holiday schedule is open from 8:30 a.m.-1 p.m. CST on Thursday, Jan. 7 at 1300 W. Gregory St., Pensacola, FL 32502. Dates are subject to change due to inclement weather or shortage of supplies. For more information, please visit the dedicated COVID-19 webpage.

• The Florida Department of Health (the Department) issued a Public Health Advisory recommending the following: all individuals in Florida should wear face coverings in any setting where social distancing is not possible, and all individuals should refrain from participation in social or recreational gatherings of more than 10 people.
• As of 2 p.m., Jan. 6, Escambia County has had 24,062 positive COVID-19 cases.  This number is expected to change daily due to the return of results from ongoing testing. The best source for up-to-date information regarding confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Florida is the Florida Department of Health website and the associated Data and Surveillance Dashboard and Daily Report. The site is currently updated once daily, at around 2 p.m. CT.
• The total number of COVID-19 related deaths in Escambia County residents is 393 individuals.
• The Department releases a list of long-term care facilities in Florida associated with COVID-19 cases with active cases and number of deaths in each facility in order to provide real-time data. The list of long-term care facilities with active COVID-19 cases is available here.
• The Florida Department of Health has launched Healthy Together, a mobile app that can help a person view their test results, assess their symptoms and learn what to do after they have been tested for COVID-19. The app can be downloaded from the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store by searching for “Healthy Together”. Individuals whose results are uploaded into Healthy Together with a phone number will automatically receive a text notifying them that their results are available in the app. 
• Florida has launched a COVID-19 Vaccine Report that will be updated daily at http://FloridaHealthCOVID19.gov. This report includes a breakdown of who has received the vaccine by age, race, sex and county. As of January 5, 4,243 Escambia County residents have received the first vaccine dose.
• Governor Ron DeSantis has signed Executive Order 20-315 which outlines that providers can only administer the COVID-19 vaccine to the following groups:
  • Long-term care facility residents and staff.
  • Persons 65 years of age and older.
  • Health care personnel with direct patient contact.
  • Persons deemed to be extremely vulnerable to COVID-19 by hospital providers. 
• COVID-19 vaccine administration is underway, and we ask the public to be patient as it rolls out. Read more about what Florida Department of Health Escambia County is doing to vaccinate health care workers and older adults in the community: bit.ly/38hgFcU

Governor's Press Office

• Today, Governor Ron DeSantis announced two new vaccination sites operated by Ascension Sacred Heart Hospital – one at Pensacola’s Olive Baptist Church, and the other at the Milton Community Center.
• Today, Governor Ron DeSantis announced that Hard Rock Stadium is opening as the first state operated COVID-19 drive-thru vaccination site. The Miami Hard Rock site began administering the first doses of the vaccine today as a soft launch and will open fully on Friday, January 8.
  • Watch the Governor’s announcement by clicking HERE.