AdventHealth physician: COVID-19 hospitalizations may be levelling off

ORLANDO, Fla., Jan. 28, 2021 – The number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 in AdventHealth’s Central Florida Division have dropped slightly, described as a “plateau” in the most recent surge, said Dr. Rebecca Gomez, a hospitalist and the chair of the internal medicine department at AdventHealth Orlando.

“We’re about plateauing -- maybe starting to see a drop in that curve we were on from the winter surge,” Gomez said today during the AdventHealth Morning Briefing . “We’re discharging as many patients as are coming in.”

Gomez discussed her experience caring for many COVID-19 patients during the past 11 months and the speed at which treatments evolved as learning emerged about the new virus. She noted the effectiveness of “proning” patients or laying them on their stomachs for as long as they can remain comfortable to help open their lungs as well as steroids and other treatments.

She emphasized that the vaccine is key to ending the pandemic, but the community must continue to wear masks, practice social distancing and continue frequent handwashing to help bring down the number of infections.

You can sign up for alerts to learn when more appointments are available at www.CoronavirusVaccineAlerts.com . Vaccines are not currently available at any AdventHealth hospital, AdventHealth Centra Care or AdventHealth Medical Group office.