- April 23, 2024
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The COVID-19 spike sweeping across the country is showing up in the form of an increasing local positivity rate, more hospitalizations of people with COVID-like symptoms and more infections at schools, Florida Department of Health-Flagler experts said on Flagler Broadcasting's "Free For All Friday" program Nov. 20.
"I’m in good shape, I would say. ... And let me tell you, folks, that COVID kicked my butt."
— ROY SIEGER, Flagler Executive Airport manager
The county's positivity rate was up to 7.5%, an increase from 6% a couple weeks before, while 23 students at eight schools had tested positive. Some of those students have been asymptomasatic, but not all.
The health department is seeing about 120-130 new cases per week — double what it was seeing a few weeks ago.
"I want to be the new poster child for this," Flagler Executive Airport Manager Roy Sieger said on the radio show, where he spoke his recent experience getting COVID-19.
"I’m in good shape, I would say: I never smoked in my life, I run, I walk, I’m very active — and let me tell you, folks, that COVID kicked my butt," Sieger said. "It knocked me out for three weeks. I got to the point that I couldn’t breathe, and the coughing was so bad. ... It's real and it affects people differently."
"It’s just classic," said Dr. Stephen Bickel, the health department's medical director. "You can be in good shape, think you’re invulnerable, and really get nailed by this thing. ... The vaccines are coming, but people need to say uninfected until they get vaccinated. So keep up those practices. It’s really important. "
Sieger noted that he'd been diligent about wearing a mask and avoided eating out, but believed he got the illness at a doctor's office.
Meanwhile, FDOH Health Officer Bob Snyder said, the department is beginning vaccine planning.
The vaccine will first be made available to health care workers and first responders, then will be distributed to the wider population around March through May.
The Health Department has arranged to use freezers at the Whitney Marine Laboratory to keep the vaccine cold, as it must be stored at -70 degrees F.
For distribution, Snyder said, the department will use sites across the county. The vaccine will be free, and the department will engage in a health messaging campaign to encourage people to get it, Snyder said.
Unlike traditional vaccines that are created with live or dead virus, this one is created from viral messenger RNA, which gets into cells and then uses the cell's machinery to manufacture spike proteins that trigger an immune response.
It's "slick technology," Bickel said.
The department has also received 1,000 Abbott rapid tests that provide results in as little as 20 minutes, and will use those for now on symptomatic patients.
