Hospitals in the Shoals hit coronavirus records this week

Right now -- there are a record number of people hospitalized with coronavirus in the shoals.

Waay31's breken terry is live at the "north alabama medical center" in florence with how many they are caring for.

Breken... as of yesterday there were more than 65 people in this hospital with coronavirus.

Across the river at helen keller hospital they're caring for 52 people.

Both records this week for these two healthcare facilities.

Helen keller hospital president kyle buchanan said they are seeing more people critical with the virus too.

Hospital officials believe the spike is being caused by community spread from holiday gatherings, and parties.

Buchanan said rolling out the vaccine is a great thing it doesn't mean the virus is going away anytime soon.

Individuals think now that the vaccine is rolling out we can now relax and that cannot be farther from the truth.

It will take several months for us to feel a real impact from vaccination efforts and during that several month period there could be dozens or hundreds of our loved ones who could suffer greatly from this disease buchanan said he knows he sounds like a broken record but people must avoid gatherings, wear masks, and wash hands.

Right now the hospital is limiting it's elective surgeries based on how many beds they have open daily.

Live in the shoals bt waay31.