Northeast Florida hospitals returning to COVID-19 peak amid delta surge

Hospital officials in Northeast Florida are urging people to get vaccinated, as the number of COVID-19 patients is approaching or exceeding levels they previously saw.

Hospital officials in Northeast Florida are urging people to get vaccinated as the number of COVID-19 patients is approaching or exceeding levels they saw during the worst of the pandemic amid "rampant" spread of the more transmissible delta variant of the coronavirus. UF Health Jacksonville, in Florida's most populous city, has seen an "exponential" rise in the number of COVID-19 patients admitted in recent weeks, Chad Neilsen, director of infection prevention at the hospital, told ABC News. The previous record for the highest number of daily COVID-19 patients across its two campuses -- 125 -- was set in January; the hospital surpassed that three days ago, Neilsen said, and is currently at 136, with about 40 people in the intensive care unit. Last week, there were 75 COVID-19 patients in the hospital, 45 the prior week and 20 the week before that, according to Dr. Leon Haley Jr., CEO of UF Health Jacksonville.