A University of South Florida epidemiologist said Friday that Hillsborough County could have as many as 2,800 new COVID-19 cases daily in September, prompting a surge in hospitalizations that could exceed hospital bed capacity.
USF epidemiologist Edwin Michael said in a statement that infections will primarily occur in unvaccinated residents and that the September spike should be the final wave of the pandemic in the area.
The expected spike is due, at least in part, to the slowing of vaccinations and the scaling back of mitigation efforts such as social distancing and mask wearing.
Also, Florida and other states are grappling with the highly transmissible delta variant of the coronavirus.
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