The Orlando Veterans Affairs health care system has more active COVID-19 cases than any other VA in the nation as of Tuesday: 532.
This is a fraction of the active caseload faced during the winter omicron surge but may be an underestimate due to the popularity of at-home testing.
Hospitalizations are also increasing, said Orlando VA health care system Chief of Staff Dr. Lisa Zacher. As of Tuesday, there are 25 people hospitalized with COVID-19 and one in the intensive care unit.
“We are seeing less hospitalizations than during the delta wave, but more hospitalizations when compared to the omicron surge,” Zacher said in a statement sent over email.
The Orlando VA reflects a pattern seen throughout the region. Cases in Central Florida have been increasing for months. On Friday, 263 COVID-positive people were hospitalized in Orange County, a 29% weekly increase.
About 50% of veterans in Florida are over 65, according to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, which heightens their risk of having serious side effects or even dying of COVID-19, according to the CDC.
The rise in hospitalizations doesn’t necessarily mean there’s a rise in severe cases, however. Most of the system’s COVID-positive patients are primarily at the hospital for other reasons, Zacher noted.
“The majority of our patients being treated for COVID are coming to us for other medical or surgical care and COVID is discovered after they are tested in the emergency department prior to admission,” she said. “Some of these patients also have COVID symptoms, but we have not experienced the seriousness of illness seen during the delta wave, especially in the unvaccinated population.”
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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention predicts COVID-19 hospitalizations will continue to increase in Florida in the coming weeks due to the extreme infectiousness of the currently dominant COVID-19 omicron subvariant, BA.5. A report in the New England Journal of Medicine found BA.5 and other new omicron subvariants “substantially escape prior antibodies” from vaccination or prior infection.
There’s no evidence that BA.5 is more severe than other types of COVID-19 even as hospitalizations have doubled since May, though more research is needed to be sure, said CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky at a White House briefing last Tuesday.
Walensky added that though COVID-19 breakthrough cases have become more common during the current surge, the vaccines still appear to provide strong protection against severe outcomes and death.
“Staying up to date on your COVID-19 vaccines provides the best protection against severe outcomes,” Walensky said.
The Orlando VA serves Orange, Osceola, Seminole, Volusia, Brevard and Lake counties, according to its website. It is the fourth-largest VA medical center in the U.S., serving more than 198,263 veterans.
It holds the record for the most COVID-19 cases recorded throughout the pandemic: 14,605, according to the VA’s COVID-19 dashboard. It is 21st in COVID-19 deaths, with 272 on the record.
ccatherman@orlandosentinel.com; Twitter @CECatherman
Read More: Orlando VA leads nation in active COVID-19 cases – Orlando Sentinel