TAMPA (WFLA) – Gov. DeSantis has announced 100 contract nurses will be coming to the Tampa Bay area.
The governor made the announcement Thursday afternoon in Jacksonville also announcing that 100 additional nurses will be going to the Miami Dade.
The announcement comes after Gov. DeSantis said Monday he believes coronavirus has “stabilized” in Florida.
Tampa General Hospital released a statement following the annoucment:
Tampa General Hospital welcomes the additional resources the state is sending to benefit the Tampa Bay community. We are partnering in unprecedented ways to fight this pandemic, and 100 more nurses will help our collective efforts throughout the Tampa Bay region.
Tampa General Hospital
8 On Your Side has been tracking ICU bed information throughout the Tampa Bay area and found fewer than 130 adult ICU beds are available throughout the 10 local counties.
The availability of ICU beds is something 8 On Your Side has been tracking closely as cases have increased throughout the state the past few weeks.
“I would say hospitals and all of their administrators are very concerned, they communicate with each other, and everybody is seeing the same increase in filling up their hospitals with coronavirus patients,” Dr. John Greene, the chief of infectious diseases at Moffitt, told 8 On Your Side last month.
Earlier this week, Lakeland Regional – Polk County’s largest hospital – said it was accessing additional intensive care unit beds it has available to treat patients as coronavirus cases rise.
On Thursday, percent of positive results surpassed 20% in the state of Florida with the state total now sitting at 232,718 cases across the state.
