Florida doctor breaks down describing treating unvaccinated Covid patients

Frontline workers are straining under the pressure of yet another wave of coronavirus in Florida, which has emerged as the center of the Delta variant-fueled Covid resurgence in America.

“It is very difficult,” Dr Ahmed Elhaddad, ICU Medical Director at Jupiter Medical Center told CNN on Sunday, becoming choked up as he recounted his experiences. “It’s even harder when it’s your friends. I have a patient now that’s the father of one of my son’s classmates. And he’s not expected to make it. He was not vaccinated.”

Florida is averaging more cases and deaths than at any time in the pandemic so far, including the period before vaccines were widely available. Over the weekend, the state had the highest Covid hospitalisation rate in the country, and it has struggled to secure enough oxygen for Covid patients. There have been so many deaths, the Central Florida Disaster Medical Coalition, a federally funded nonprofit, recently purchased 14 portable morgues to support the state’s strained healthcare system.