FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - State leaders are preparing for a high influx of COVID-19 patients by setting up field hospitals across Florida, including locations in Broward and Miami-Dade counties.
Late last week, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis confirmed a parking lot off Commercial Boulevard will be the site of one of these field hospitals.
“We have set up a field hospital currently being constructed in Broward County,” he said.
The other location will be at an undisclosed location in Miami-Dade County, DeSantis said.
“Each field hospital can accommodate 250 people,” said Jared Moskowitz, director of the Florida Division of Emergency Management. “That really is a segue between a hospital and then potentially having to set up an additional permanent facility,”
Crews first began building at the Fort Lauderdale site early Thursday morning.
Sunday afternoon, it appeared close to completion. 7News cameras captured the considerable progress that was made in just three days. Multiple rows of mobile sleeping units are already in place to help care for patients.
“We’re keeping track of the availability of beds. One of the key things on this is, obviously, how fatal it is, which is very serious,” said DeSantis. “We know most of the fatalities have been with people who are elderly and/or have a serious underlying medical condition, and the ones that have both … they’re the most vulnerable for fatalities.”
If enough beds and space are not available, the governor said, plans are already in place to help those who need it.
“My Agency for Health Care Administration has been in communication with six vacant medical facilities throughout the state which, if we need to utilize it for the COVID-19 response effort, they are evaluating how that would work,” he said.
The completion dates on the Fort Lauderdale and Miami-Dade field hospitals remain unknown, as well as who will staff the sites.
Anyone with questions and concerns about the coronavirus can call the Florida Department of Health’s 24-hour hotline at 1-866-779-6121.
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