Escambia County COVID-19 Update #275

Updated at  3 p.m. Feb. 9:

For prior updates, visit myescambia.com/news#coronavirus.

Vaccination Information for Adults 65 and Older:

• Florida Department of Health, Escambia County- FDOH-Escambia will schedule appointments based on supply availability. For the most up-to-date information, follow them on Twitter at @HealthyEscambia and visit EscambiaHealth.com. Residents who completed our online interest form will be transferred to the new system. Escambia County residents who have not already completed the online interest form should use the statewide preregistration system to sign up. Residents can call the toll-free line at 866-201-1025 or register online at myvaccine.fl.gov. The TTY number for the deaf and hard of hearing is 833-476-1461. Registrants will be notified when appointments are available in their area. The State has established a help line at 833-959-0217 for those who need to make changes to their original pre-registration. This pre-registration system will proactively contact vaccine-eligible individuals to schedule appointments when they are available at health department or emergency management vaccine sites. Appointments are opened based upon the vaccine supply received each week from the State of Florida. Please be aware that when Sharecare calls you to schedule an appointment, they will NOT ask for financial information or social security information.
• Ascension Sacred Heart- Ascension Medical Group Sacred Heart began vaccinations for adults 65 and older on Jan. 6. 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 will continue to announce appointment dates. Monitor Publix's online portal here.

• Walmart and Sam's Club- Walmart and Sam’s Club pharmacies can now accept and administer federal allocations of the COVID-19 vaccine. Walmart and Sam’s Club are working with the federal government to help increase access to COVID-19 vaccines at select pharmacies in 22 states once vaccine doses are available, starting late next week.

  • Once a store or club receives allocation, the online scheduler will be available to make appointments at walmart.com/COVIDvaccine and samsclub.com/covid. 

• Winn-Dixie - Monitor the Winn-Dixie online portal here.

Escambia County

• Hospital Information totals
  • Hospitalizations 159 (current hospitalizations as of 2:30 p.m. Feb. 9, 2021)
  • Bed Capacity 1,397  (county SITREP)
  • Bed Occupancy 1,128  (county SITREP)
  • Beds Available 367 (as of 2:30 p.m. Feb. 9, 2021)
  • Total Ventilators 215 (as of 2:30 p.m. Feb. 9, 2021)
  • Available Ventilators 142 (as of 2:30 p.m. Feb. 9, 2021)
  • Recovered 30,897* (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 98.06% (as of 2:30 p.m. Feb. 9, 2021)

• Testing sites
• Rapid testing information
  • Appointments are available for Escambia County residents who are 3 months and older and are experiencing COVID-19 symptoms. Patients desiring COVID-19 testing through Ascension Sacred Heart's locations in Escambia and Santa Rosa counties should pre-register online by visiting: www.getsacredheartcare.com to be pre-screened and scheduled (if eligible) or call Community Health Northwest Florida at 850-390- 4276. Rapid testing is offered for symptomatic individuals by appointment only.

• Join District 1 Commissioner Jeff Bergosh at his virtual 58th Coffee with the Commissioner event Wednesday, Feb. 10. The live stream will take place from 6:30 - 7:30 a.m. Escambia County Administrator Janice Gilley, Interim Public Safety Director Eric Gilmore and, special guest First Judicial Circuit Medical Examiner Dr. Deanna Oleske will discuss the latest COVID-19 numbers and the the ongoing response to the pandemic. Discussion will include an in-depth conversation with Dr. Oleske about the impacts the pandemic has had on the Medical Examiner’s office and her staff and facilities. To join the meeting, go to the Commissioner's Facebook page at 6:30 a.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 10. 

• Escambia County dashboard

Escambia County Corrections

• Cumulatively, 1,100 Escambia County inmates have been tested:
  • 239 positive (214 have been medically cleared, and 22 have been released from custody, leaving 3 active, positive cases at this time)
  • 857 negative
  • 4 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 that beginning February 5, FDOH-Escambia will transition to the statewide pre-registration system to schedule COVID-19 vaccine appointments. Residents who completed our online interest form will be transferred to the new system. Escambia County residents who have not already completed the online interest form should use the statewide preregistration system to sign up. Residents can call the toll-free line at 866-201-1025 or register online at myvaccine.fl.gov. The TTY number for the deaf and hard of hearing is 833-476-1461. Registrants will be notified when appointments are available in their area. The State has established a help line at 833-959-0217 for those who need to make changes to their original pre-registration.
• This pre-registration system will proactively contact vaccine-eligible individuals to schedule appointments when they are available at health department or emergency management vaccine sites. Appointments are opened based upon the vaccine supply received each week from the State of Florida. Please be aware that when Sharecare calls you to schedule an appointment, they will NOT ask for financial information or social security information.
• If you have pre-registered, we ask for your patience. The demand is high, and the supply is currently limited. As we received vaccine, we work to schedule appointments as quickly as we can. We encourage residents to take advantage of opportunities offered through other partners to get vaccinated.
• 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.
• Florida has launched a COVID-19 Vaccine Report that will be updated daily. As of Feb. 9, 31,988 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., February 9, Escambia County has had 32,208 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 3 p.m. ET.
• The total number of COVID-19 related deaths in Escambia County residents is 569 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.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

• Traveling on public transportation (such as airplanes, ships, ferries, trains, subways, buses, taxis, and ride-shares) can make getting and spreading COVID-19 more likely. Order under Section 361 of the Public Health Service Act states that the CDC now requires everyone to wear a mask while using public transportation into or within the United States and in transportation hubs (airports; seaports; train, subway, and bus stations, and other terminals) in the US. When using public transport, wear a mask, stay 6 feet from others as much as possible and avoid crowds, and wash your hands frequently. Learn more about reducing your risk while traveling: bit.ly/3m68x2R. The CDC Order implements President Biden’s Executive Order 13998. Read the APTA Transit Mask Mandate Summary. Free face masks have been provided for ECAT riders since June 1 and will continue to be available. Face masks have also been required to ride ECAT since Dec. 21.

Florida Division of Emergency Management

• The state of Florida is in its eighth week of vaccine distribution and is continuing to increase vaccine access statewide. Each week, the state issues updates on the progress of the state's COVID-19 vaccination efforts. This week, the state continued to increase vaccine access to Florida's seniors & send additional vaccine doses to hospitals.
• 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

• Today, Governor DeSantis visited a Walmart Supercenter in Jacksonville where he announced additional COVID-19 vaccination sites across the state of Florida through the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program. The Federal Retail Pharmacy Program sites will begin offering COVID-19 vaccines on Friday, February 12 at 490 pharmacy locations across 52 counties.