AdventHealth has transitioned back into yellow status as coronavirus cases continue to surge in Central Florida with the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant.

Under this new status, elective surgeries will be deferred and visitors will be limited. All team members, visitors and patients will also be required to wear a face mask. 

AdventHealth’s Dr. Neil Finkler says there are some 720 patients currently hospitalized with COVID-19 in the Central Florida hospital system. 

And Finkler says that number is rapidly increasing, which he says is concerning. 

“We are now seeing about the fastest rate of increase that we have seen during the course of this entire pandemic.”

Dr. Tim Hendrix emphasizes that the current surge is mostly in unvaccinated people. 95 percent of people checking into AdventHealth’s hospitals are unvaccinated. 

But he says that still puts a strain on the hospital system.

“A big rise, very rapid rise. The same rise back during the holidays it took us three to four months to get to that point. And this has only taken us less than a month to get to a similar point. That’s even higher than what we were seeing during the holidays. So this just attests to how contagious this variant is.”

Hendrix says about 25 percent of people who come into AdventHealth’s Centra Care now test positive for COVID-19. He says symptoms may include a high fever, runny nose and cough.