FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - As the coronavirus pandemic persists and cases continue to rise daily, Broward County Mayor Steve Geller is speaking out.
Geller addressed vaccinations as well as the county’s continuous increase in COVID-19 cases, resulting in hospitals reaching capacity.
The mayor mentioned that hospitalizations in Broward have gone from 500 to 600 in the last two weeks.
The median age of people going to the hospital is 39 years old.
Geller said he believes the next few weeks will be the worst the county has seen, especially after the holidays.
He showed images of long lines of people outside Fort Lauderdale and Hollywood bars and clubs on New Year’s Eve.
During the holiday weekend, more than one dozen county inspectors conducted inspections and issued about 20 citations.
“The hospital admissions are going up and the hospital patient census are going up. The charts are right there in front of you,” Geller said. “Are we in a crisis today? No. If the numbers continue to increase — and we know that they will, at least for the next week or 10 days, because of the Christmas and New Year’s holidays — we know that those numbers are going to increase. I try and listen to the experts, whether they’re scientists or physicians, those are the two experts that I try and listen to. They have all predicted that January and February are going to be much worse than other months have been.”
Geller said they do not want to shut down businesses. However, if the trends continue to go up, they may have to.
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