Jared Moskowitz, left, director of the Florida Emergency Management Agency, with Lt. Gov. Jeanette Nunez and Gov. Ron DeSantis at a coronavirus testing site at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens on March 22. Moskowitz said Sunday the state would be able to meet the demand for ICU beds and ventilators even when coronavirus hits its peak. He also said the state has a dedicated team of people assigned to plan for how the state should deal with the threat of a hurricane during a time of coronavirus.(Wilfredo Lee/AP) Officials in New York and elsewhere have raised alarms about shortages of critical-care hospital space and ventilators, but Florida’s emergency management chief said Sunday the state would be able to meet the need. He also said the state has a dedicated team of people assigned to plan for how the state should deal with the threat of a hurricane during a time of coronavirus . The Atlantic hurricane season begins June. 1 “I have full confidence that we’ll be able to meet the ICU capacity,” state Emergency Management Director Jared Moskowitz said in an interview on WPLG-Ch. 10 . “We feel that we’ll be able to meet the capacity as far as the beds, or the potential bed issue, or the potential issue with ventilators.” Asked about a projected peak need in early May of 2,500 beds and current capacity of less than 1,700, Moskowitz said the state bought, and has received 4,300 hospital beds. He said the beds the state bought, and the ability of hospitals to convert existing beds to intensive care beds, should be enough to meet the projected need . He said field hospitals have been set up in Broward and Miami-Dade counties; field hospitals are pre-positioned for Jacksonville and the Orlando area; there is capacity […]
