- January 20, 2025
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City officials in an April 7 City Council meeting — only a few of them actually in the council chambers, and those wearing face masks — urged residents to continue social distancing as Florida Department of Health-Flagler Administrator Bob Snyder said that the state's expected COVID-19 peak time is now expected to occur the week of April 21.
"When we heed these warnings, it's not because we're trying to be difficult; it's not because we're trying to be unsympathetic to our residents. We're doing everything possible to ensure that we get through this together."
— MILISSA HOLLAND, Palm Coast mayor, on COVID-19-relatd restrictions
Previous modeling from the University of Washington, which performs modeling for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the military, had initially predicted a peak in the first week of May.
The fact that the peak is expected to come earlier is a good thing, but it's a result of statewide and local mitigation efforts, Snyder said — not a reason to abandon them.
"We have to keep things going; we have to keep what we're doing at the top of our minds, top of awareness," he said, "and that's the extreme social distancing, no gatherings of more than 10 people, wearing our masks or bandanas or a scarf when we're out and about, good hand hygiene and disinfecting protocols at home and elsewhere."
Those variables could all combine to lead to 3,000 fewer hospitalizations in the state and 200 fewer ICU patients, he said.
Snyder noted that he state is now reporting COVID-19 cases by zip code on it COVID-19 Data and Surveillance Dashboard, at https://bit.ly/34kelhp.
The University of Washington model, visible at https://covid19.healthdata.org/united-states-of-america/florida, also predicts that April 21 will be the date on which the state has the highest number of COVID-19 deaths: It expects 242 on April 21, and 6,770 in Florida by Aug. 4.
The model predicts an ICU bed shortage of 769 in the state: 2,464 ICU beds will be needed, but 1,695 are available, it shows. It does not predict a shortage of regular hospital beds.
The Florida Department of Health in Flagler County recently received 500 COVID-19 testing kits and expects to soon have a local drive-through testing facility, Snyder told the council.
"I'm not able to share details at the moment other than to say the plans are being tweaked and they are just about complete, and we are going to wait for the county to make an announcement as to the details," he said.
He noted that the county had tested 24 people the previous day.
The county has also worked to get local laboratory approved by the Health Department for COVID-19 tasing. The labs; turnaround time for tests is 24 hours or less, Snyder said.
Experts are now estimating that 25-55% of carriers of COVID-19 are asymptomatic, and are urging residents to wear masks to keep themselves from unknowingly passing it to others.
"This would be for individuals who are out and about, maybe grocery shopping or need to pick up takeout," Snyder said. "Just when you're out and about, just be cognizant of the importance of wearing a mask."
