THE PALM BEACH COUNTY COVID SURGE CONTINUES, COMMISSIONERS STILL DEBATING FACIAL COVERINGS
BOYNTON BEACH, FL (BocaNewsNow.com) — An area hospital has run out of ICU beds as COVID-19 surges in Palm Beach County, Governor Ron DeSantis says there will be no “roll back,” and Palm Beach County Commissioners debate whether facial coverings should be mandatory to stop the spread of Coronavirus.
Bethesda Hospital West reports as of 10:30 p.m. Wednesday that it has no available adult ICU beds.
The realtime statistics revealed on Florida’s Community Coronavirus Dashboard is significant. Bethesda West reported 4 available ICU beds Wednesday morning.
Availability at Delray Medical Center has also apparently plummeted. Delray Medical reported 23 adult ICU beds with availability on Tuesday — it’s 13 as of 10:30 p.m. Wednesday.
The dashboard is the work of Rebekah Jones, Florida’s lead data scientist. (Dashboard link is below). Gov. Ron DeSantis said she was fired for not following orders. Jones says those orders were to suppress data. The dashboard — which is similar to the dashboard she created for the State of Florida — uses realtime data provided by hospitals that the Dept. of Health has not previously released.
BocaNewsNow.com asked a local hospital administrator Wednesday if these “real time” numbers should disregarded. We were not told that they are wrong.
As of 10:30 p.m. Wednesday, Bethesda Hospital West reports 0 available Adult ICU beds, 0 pediatric ICU beds and 6 isolation beds.
Bethesda East is reporting 14 available ICU beds, 2 pediatric ICU beds and 13 isolation beds. (18 adult ICU beds were available Tuesday).
Boca Raton Regional is reporting 7 available ICU beds, 0 pediatric ICU beds and 7 isolation beds. (11 ICU beds were available and 8 isolation beds were available on Tuesday).
Delray Medical Center is reporting 13 available adult ICU beds, 0 pediatric ICU beds and 0 isolation beds. (Delray Medical Center reported 23 available adult ICU beds on Tuesday).
West Boca Medical Center is reporting 4 adult ICU beds, 3 pediatric ICU beds and 9 isolation beds. (West Boca reported 2 adult ICU beds, 4 pediatric ICU beds and 8 isolation beds on Tuesday).
Florida Community Coronavirus Dashboard is here.
