Escambia County COVID-19 Update #259

Updated at  3 p.m. Jan. 15:

For prior updates, visit myescambia.com/news#coronavirus. There will not be an update on Monday, Jan. 18 because county offices are closed in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day.  

Community Health Northwest Florida
Please note the following changes to the Community Health Northwest Florida Covid-19 mobile testing schedule, effective Tuesday, Jan. 19:

• Brownsville Community Center - RAPID TESTING ONLY.

  • -Weekdays, 11 a.m. -3 p.m. Drive-through.

  • Pre-screening/appointment IS required.

  • Please call Ascension pre-screening call center: 850-746-2684.

• 2315 W. Jackson Street - PCR (molecular) SEND-OFF TESTING ONLY.

  • Weekdays, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Drive-through.

  • No pre-screening/appointment required.

• Cantonment Pediatrics – still PCR (molecular) SEND-OFF and RAPID TESTING.
  

  • Weekdays, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Drive-through.

  • No pre-screen required for send-off test.

  • Pre-screen/appointment IS required for rapid test; please call Ascension pre-screening call center: 850-746-2684.

Escambia County

• Hospital Information totals
  • Hospitalizations 291 (current hospitalizations as of 2:30 p.m. Jan. 15, 2021)
  • Bed Capacity 1,397 (as of 10:48 a.m. Jan. 15, 2021 (county SITREP)
  • Bed Occupancy 1,173 (as of 10:48 a.m. Jan. 15, 2021 (county SITREP) 
  • Beds Available 285 (as of 2:30 p.m. Jan. 15, 2021)
  • Total Ventilators 215 (as of 2:30 p.m. Jan. 15, 2021)
  • Available Ventilators 142 (as of 2:30 p.m. Jan. 15, 2021)
  • Recovered 22,943* (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. 15, 2021)
  • As of Friday, Jan. 15, there have been 13,663 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.
  • Join District 1 Commissioner Jeff Bergosh at his virtual 57th Coffee with the Commissioner event Wednesday, Jan. 20 from 6:30 - 7:30 a.m. Escambia County Administrator Janice Gilley, Emergency Manager Eric Gilmore, Baptist Health Care President and CEO Mark Faulkner, Ascension Sacred Heart Hospital Pensacola President Dawn Rudolph and West Florida Hospital CEO Gay Nord will discuss the latest COVID-19 numbers and the impact on the local community. Discussion will include information about the status of the vaccination rollout in Escambia County. Additional details and live stream link here: bit.ly/3oLY9Pt

• Testing sites (Most testing sites except for Baptist Health Care by appointment will be closed Monday, Jan. 18 in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day)
• Vaccination Information 
• Rapid testing information
• Escambia County dashboard
• Vaccination Contact Information for Adults 65 and Older:
  • Florida Department of Health, Escambia County- FDOH-Escambia is working to identify and implement a more efficient solution to gauge interest in, and schedule appointments, for vaccine. If you have questions, please call FDOH-Escambia’s COVID-19 phone line at (850) 595-6500 option 6. FDOH-Escambia will schedule appointments based on supply availability. For general questions, COVID-19 Call Center is available 24/7 | +1 (866) 779-6121 or email [email protected]. 
  • Ascension Sacred Heart- Ascension Medical Group Sacred Heart began vaccinations for adults 65 and older on Jan. 6. To schedule a future appointment, visit getascensioncare.com/access/florida/pensacola/ and and monitor the Sacred Heart Facebook page for announcements. They will continue to hold clinics as supply becomes available. 
  • Florida- Sign up for text message updates about the vaccine and distribution by texting "FLCOVID19" to 888777. After you submit the text message, it will ask you to supply your zip code for local-level updates. Information about the statewide vaccine distribution plan can be found at floridahealthcovid19.gov/covid-19-vaccines-in-florida/.
  • Publix - Publix started taking appointments for the new locations on Wednesday, Jan. 13 at publix.com/covid-vaccine. 

Escambia County Corrections

• Cumulatively, 962 Escambia County inmates have been tested:
  • 228 positive (203 have been medically cleared, and 22 have been released from custody, leaving 3 active, positive cases at this time)
  • 734 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 the temporary closure of its COVID-19 vaccination online interest form. We continue to work through the list of individuals who previously completed the online form. As supply becomes available, FDOH-Escambia staff will schedule appointments. We encourage residents to take advantage of opportunities offered through other partners to get vaccinated.
• Florida has launched a COVID-19 Vaccine Report that will be updated daily. As of January 15, 13,663 Escambia County residents have been vaccinated.
• 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. 15, Escambia County has had 26,968 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 440 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. 

• An additional closed point of dispensing will take place on Sunday, Jan. 17  from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the Brownsville Community Center 3200 W. DeSoto St., Pensacola, FL 32505. All the vouchers have been distributed throughout the county. Only those with an appointment scheduled and a voucher may attend. Attendees also need to present a photo ID and a completed FDOH consent form.
• The Florida Division of Emergency Management piloted a vaccination point of distribution in Escambia County starting with 574 underserved adults 65 and over at the Brownsville Community Center, 3200 W. DeSoto St., on Sunday, Jan. 3. This was announced by the Governor on Jan. 4 with a focus on deploying the vaccine into underserved communities.
• Those receiving the first dose on Jan. 17 will need to return to the Brownsville Community Center at the same appointment time for the second dose of the vaccine on Saturday, Feb. 13. Participants should note that just one dose of the vaccine does not offer full protection. Both doses are required to achieve the desired immune response.
• The Florida Division of Emergency Management selected this pilot site point of distribution. Escambia County Emergency Management partnered with Community Health Northwest Florida and the Florida Department of Health-Escambia County to administer the vaccines.

Governor's Press Office

• Citizen’s call line for vaccine concerns (Governor’s Office): (850) 717-9337 
• Today, Governor Ron DeSantis provided an update on Florida’s COVID-19 vaccine distribution progress, highlighting steps the state is taking to increase vaccination sites and put Florida’s Seniors First. Among states that publicly report on vaccinations for seniors, Florida is the first state in the nation to vaccinate more than 500,000 individuals 65 years of age or older, accounting for nearly 60% of total vaccinations in the state. Due to reporting lags, this number serves as an estimate and clearly understates the total of seniors vaccinated. Watch the Governor’s update by clicking the image below or clicking HERE.