Updated at 2:45 p.m. Jan. 26:
For prior updates, visit myescambia.com/news#coronavirus.
Baptist Health Care
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Baptist Health Care’s commitment to supporting the COVID-19 vaccine rollout in Northwest Florida continued last week. At a vaccination event held at Baptist Medical Park – Nine Mile Tuesday through Saturday, Baptist team members administered vaccinations to a total of 1,008 people ages 65 and older who had registered earlier with the Department of Health in Escambia County.
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On Thursday, Jan. 21, another 276 local residents ages 65 and older received vaccinations administered by Baptist’s Jay Hospital. All recipients had registered earlier with the Santa Rosa Health Department and Emergency Management, which coordinated the event.
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Those who received vaccinations were on the county health departments’ wait lists. Baptist team members called each person on the wait lists individually to schedule their shot. Appointments were required to ensure COVID safety precautions were followed. All shots were first doses that will be followed with a second dose in 28 days.
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Baptist will provide ongoing support as additional supplies of the COVID vaccine become available to our community partners. Baptist shares Gov. DeSantis’ goal for distributing the vaccine as effectively, efficiently and quickly as possible. Members of the community are encouraged to continue following CDC recommendations to wear a mask, wash hands frequently, practice social distancing and avoid gathering in crowds.
Escambia County
- Hospital Information totals
- Hospitalizations 210 (current hospitalizations as of 2:30 p.m. Jan. 26, 2021)
- Bed Capacity 1,397 (county SITREP)
- Bed Occupancy 1,128 (county SITREP)
- Beds Available 376 (as of 2:30 p.m. Jan. 26, 2021)
- Total Ventilators 215 (as of 2:30 p.m. Jan. 26, 2021)
- Available Ventilators 142 (as of 2:30 p.m. Jan. 26, 2021)
- Recovered 23,024* (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 98.13% (as of 2:30 p.m. Jan. 26, 2021)
- As of Tuesday, Jan. 26, there have been 23,123 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.
Escambia County Corrections
- Cumulatively, 1,026 Escambia County inmates have been tested:
- 232 positive (208 have been medically cleared, and 22 have been released from custody, leaving 2 active, positive cases at this time)
- 793 negative
- 1 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
- Currently, FDOH-Escambia does not have a COVID-19 vaccination automated scheduling system or call center. Phone numbers published are unique to each county. When an automated scheduling system becomes available in Escambia County, more information will be published.
- State Surgeon General Scott Rivkees issued a Public Health Advisory on January 21 prioritizing vaccines for residents of the State of Florida or individuals in Florida for the purpose of providing health care services involving direct contact with patients.
- FDOH-Escambia highlights recent efforts in providing the COVID-19 vaccine in Escambia County.
- FDOH-Escambia announced this week's COVID-19 vaccine distribution plan in Escambia County in partnership with Ascension Sacred Heart, Baptist Health Care, Community Health Northwest Florida, and West Florida Hospital.
- 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 26, 23,123 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. 26, Escambia County has had 29,597 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 501 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.
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The Florida Health Department has a brand new COVID-19 vaccine locator site. The new site will allow Floridians to find vaccine sites by county or city and contains contact information for each location. See all locations here -
http://ow.ly/k0FX50De10y
Florida Division of Emergency Management
- FDEM is seeking volunteers that can administer the vaccine such as doctors, nurses and physician assistants. Please register at www.merits.com/fdem-volunteers, choose the county and then signup.
Governor's Press Office
- Governor Ron DeSantis announced that by February 1st, the COVID-19 vaccine will have been offered to every resident and staff member to Florida’s nearly 700 nursing homes and over 3,000 assisted living facilities.
- Today, Governor Ron DeSantis addressed recent comments from the White House about Florida's vaccine allocation: "The insinuation that Florida is underutilizing vaccines is totally disingenuous. Florida is number one in the country among the top 10 most populous states for vaccine doses per capita. Additionally, Florida is averaging more than 300,000 first doses per week but we are not going to divert second doses away from our seniors. If the implication is that we should be giving those second doses away to other people, that is not the way the FDA has prescribed the series. We are also number one in the nation by far for vaccinations of seniors, as Florida has vaccinated more than 1 million seniors 65 and older to date. If we are given additional first doses, we are ready to double our output. The possibilities are endless here in Florida, but it is contingent on us getting additional supply from the federal government. We are committed to ensuring our seniors are the priority and get their second dose, and if the White House is suggesting that we shouldn't be doing that, I don't think that's a good suggestion."
