Sanibel Journal

On March 2, or sooner for those who order mail-in ballots , Sanibel citizens will be able to vote for three new city council members.  Out of the field of six candidates, I know who I will get my vote for two of those positions.  For the third position, I haven’t yet decided. In an outstanding field of candidates, these two really stand out for me:   Mike Miller and Scott Crater.   Both have the kind of expertise and leadership qualities that we need in this somewhat difficult time.   I endorse Mike Miller and Scott Crater for the city council. For the City of Sanibel, there will be economic fallout from the pandemic for some time to come.   The City also needs to continue to take measures to protect against the spread of the virus, as the vaccine rollout is slowed by lack of supply.   We also continue to experience water quality problems due to releases from Lake Okeechobee and the Caloosahatchee watershed.   To deal with all of this, we need council members with strong science, f

Assessing the risk posed by COVID-19 on Sanibel and Captiva involves considering the situation at the hospitals in Lee County.  The islands have no hospitals; island residents depend upon hospitals on the mainland.  Those hospitals are on the front line of the epidemic in Lee County. Lee Health, the main hospital system for Lee County, continues to experience high occupancy rates and positivity rates (percent of tests that are positive) for COVID-19 tests processed in Lee Health laboratories.   Over the past week, the occupancy rate was 95% on December 30, and 96% on January 5.   The daily positivity rates were 32.2% on December 30 and 34% on January 5.   Occupancy of adult Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds was 89% on December 30, and 93% on January 5. Meanwhile, the Lee Health system has been vaccinating its key workers, as well as staff members who are 65 or older.   As more vaccines are received, Lee Health will announce plans for vaccinating residents who are over 65.   National