Six Years Later: The stories and data behind COVID-19 in Southwest Florida

SOUTHWEST FLORIDA, Fla (WINK)  — Six years after COVID-19 changed life across Southwest Florida, the numbers of cases are staggering, but for many families, the memories are even more powerful.

"I just think of the loss of life… how many people lost loved ones… how many didn't get to say goodbye to them," said Donna McLoud.

For McLoud, the pandemic is deeply personal. Her mother was hospitalized just days after Christmas in 2021 after contracting COVID-19. Within weeks, her condition worsened.

"The fear in her eyes when she left me was crippling," McLoud said. "I still to this day see that fear."

Due to hospital restrictions at the time, McLoud couldn’t be by her mother’s side. Instead, they communicated through phones and messages.

"She would text me from her hospital room, 'help me,'" she said.

McLoud described her mother as vibrant and full of life, always involved with her grandchildren and her community through volunteer work. She was a retired nurse. On January 23, 2022, her mother passed away. 

In an interview with WINK, McLoud described the emotional toll of not being able to visit her mother in-person at the hospital until it was time to say goodbye. What followed was a limited funeral attendance due to COVID-19 restrictions. 

"I don’t feel like we got a proper goodbye," McLoud said. "I still feel my mom around me. I still feel her love and the love she had for me."

The numbers behind the pandemic

Stories like Donna McLoud’s played out across Southwest Florida — and across the country.

In Florida alone, 8.7 million people eventually tested positive for COVID-19, according to the Florida Department of Health.

The spread intensified quickly in the early years of the pandemic.

• In 2020, Florida recorded 1.3 million cases.
• In 2021, that number jumped to 2.9 million.
• In 2022, cases climbed again to 3 million.

Across Lee, Collier, and Charlotte counties, hundreds of thousands of cases were reported between 2020 and 2022.

Lee County saw the highest numbers, with more than 233,000 cases during that time period.

Collier County reported over 102,000 cases, while Charlotte County saw more than 46,000.

Behind those numbers, healthcare systems were pushed to their limits.

A healthcare system under pressure

As cases surged in 2020, healthcare providers had to rapidly adapt to an evolving and largely unknown virus.

"We had to change the way that we did business, the way that we handled patients, and the way that we did almost every aspect of what we did fairly rapidly," said Trey Fletcher, Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel of Healthcare Network.

Clinics that once accepted walk-in patients shifted to appointment-only systems, while screening protocols became the norm.

"Everybody who walked through the front door went through a COVID questionnaire," Fletcher said.

Providers were also learning about the virus in real time.

"It was the most rapidly changing environment that we’ve really ever dealt with," he said.

Fear, uncertainty and burnout

Beyond the physical toll, the pandemic brought a heavy emotional burden — especially for healthcare workers.

"You treated every person like they were sick until you could prove otherwise," Fletcher said.

He says there was constant concern about exposure.

"There was this undertone of fear… what if I get COVID? What if I bring this home?"

That stress led some healthcare workers to leave the profession altogether.

Today, COVID-19 is no longer overwhelming hospitals the way it once did. Treatments have improved, and cases are far less severe than during the peak years.

For families like McLoud’s, though, the impact hasn’t faded.

"Very devastating time," she said. "It was very hard."