The Medical Center’s response to COVID-19 has been the focus of 2020, 2021, and the start of 2022. Monroe County reported a 39.1 percent positivity rate in COVID during the week ending Jan. 7.

According to The Miami Herald, “Florida’s surging COVID case counts are likely to peak by mid-January at about 90,000 new cases a day, scientists at the University of Florida’s Emerging Pathogens Institute recently projected. The surge is due to the highly contagious Omicron variant.”

Last week, as has become routine, the Medical Center responded quickly to the ongoing COVID situation, assisting the community with on-site COVID testing at no charge. Testing was conducted all last week with the assistance of Medical Center CEO Keith Young, COO Chris Grant and technicians Mark Portnov and Colette Trujillo.

“The Medical Center is committed to doing our part in keeping the spread of COVID as minimized as possible,” Young said. “Testing is the first step.”

The holidays brought friends and family to Ocean Reef and a concern for increased exposure. The community responded responsibly by obtaining testing. More than 700 tests were performed at the Medical Center’s testing site.

Much is still unknown about the Omicron variant and many vaccinated people have reported milder symptoms. There also remain individuals who are not vaccinated or have underlying health conditions. Please continue wearing masks when appropriate and practice the usual precautions.