Patient count continues to fall at Sarasota Memorial facilities
As of March 31, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that Sarasota County’s COVID-19 positivity rate was classified as “Low,” though it had climbed from 2.94% on March 21 to 3.59%, with both figures averaged over the preceding seven days.
In other details, the March 31 data showed only 2.4% of the staffed in-patient beds in the county were in use by patients with confirmed COVID-19 cases.
On March 31, Sarasota Memorial Hospital (SMH) reported a total of 18 COVID-19 patients in its facilities in Sarasota and Venice, three of whom were in the Intensive Care Units (ICUs).
However, just a day earlier, the patient count was 15; still, only three of those were in the ICUs, SMH noted.
The total number of COVID-19 deaths SMH has handled since the pandemic began in Florida in March 2020 was 650, as of March 31, the health care system reported.
On March 25, staff members at SMH’s two facilities were caring for 22 COVID-19 patients, four of whom were in the ICUs, the health care system noted that day.
The number of deaths had climbed from 648 on March 24 to 649 on March 25, SMH added.
Fifteen days earlier, on March 10, SMH staff was caring for 36 COVID-19 patients, with nine of them in the ICUs, the report said.
The total number of patient deaths during the pandemic, as of March 10, was 646, SMH also noted on March 11.
Overall, as of March 31, the CDC said that 69.3% of the county population had been fully vaccinated against COVID-19. The figure for those 65 and older was 90.9%, the CDC reported.
