Lee Health has increased its ability to test local members of the community for COVID-19 by opening a drive-thru site in Fort Myers.

The county’s leading healthcare system announced they have contracted with Curative to operate a COVID-19 testing site at its Lee Convenient Care clinic at 4771 S Cleveland Ave. in Fort Myers. The four-lane drive thru opened at the site “to help meet the demand for testing as COVID surges in our community.” Appointments for the drive-thru site can be made by visiting www.curative.com.

“Lee Health emergency departments continue to see a high volume of patients,” said Lee Health spokesperson Jonathon Little said in an email Monday. “We ask the community to seek COVID testing at a designated testing site if you are not experiencing a medical emergency.”

Lee Health’s free vaccination clinic at Gulf Coast Medical Center in Fort Myers (13681 Doctors Way) is open Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Individuals looking to become vaccinated can visit www.LeeHealth.org or call 239-343-0999 to schedule an appointment. A parent or guardian must accompany a minor.

Lee Health hails Pfizer vaccine FDA approval

Lee Health officials on Monday issued a statement on the full FDA approval of the Pfizer-BioNtech COVID-19 vaccine.

“Lee Health is very pleased the Food and Drug Administration has granted full approval to Pfizer-BioNTech’s coronavirus vaccine for those who are 16 years-old and older. Vaccination is the best defense against COVID-19, which has claimed the lives of more than 800 people inside Lee Health hospitals and sickened thousands in our region,” officials stated in a release.

“All of the COVID-19 vaccines available today underwent rigorous evaluation through clinical trials involving tens of thousands of people. They were all proven to be safe and effective. We really hope this full approval encourages anyone who is on the fence to be vaccinated for COVID-19 to do so as soon as possible.”

By the numbers

As of Monday morning, Lee Health had 629 COVID-19 patients isolated in system inpatient hospitals, including 226 new COVID-19 admissions and 175 COVID-19 over the weekend. Of those patients, eight are children under the age of 18. Since the start of the pandemic, Lee Health has reported 841 patient deaths inside of their hospitals due to COVID-19 related complications, including 22 over the weekend.

Census as of Monday morning was at 94% of staffed operational bed capacity. Staffed operational capacity reflects the number of beds for which the hospital has adequate staffing, not the total number of beds within Lee Health hospitals. Overall bed capacity fluctuates hour to hour as the system discharges patients throughout the day who are ready to go home.

As of Monday, 52% of ventilators and 23% of ICU rooms are available for use across Lee Health facilities.

As of Monday, there were 72 COVID-19 patients on ventilators and 94 in the intensive care unit.

COVID-19 is a highly contagious viral disease. For most individuals, symptoms are mild. For a minority, the disease becomes a type of viral pneumonia with severe complications. Especially at risk are those who are older, those with underlying health conditions and the immune-compromised.

With the number of COVID- 19 cases again climbing due, in part, to the latest mutation of the virus, the CDC is recommending that even vaccinated individuals “maximize protection from the Delta variant and possibly spreading it to others” by wearing a mask indoors in public in areas “of substantial or high transmission.”

The CDC also recommends masks for those at high risk of serious illness from COVID, those with compromised immune systems, those who are older, and those with underlying medical conditions.

Vaccination is highly urged.

For more detail on Florida resident cases, visit floridahealthcovid19.gov.

To find the most up-to-date information and guidance on COVID-19, visit the Department of Health’s dedicated COVID-19 webpage. For information and advisories from the Centers for Disease Control, visit the CDC COVID-19 website. For more information about current travel advisories issued by the U.S. Department of State, visit the travel advisory website.

For any other questions related to COVID-19 in Florida, contact the Department’s dedicated COVID-19 Call Center by calling 1-866-779-6121. The Call Center is available 24 hours per day. Inquiries may also be emailed to COVID-19@flhealth.gov.

–Connect with this reporter on Twitter: @haddad_cj