Manatee Co. Commissioner in stable condition after COVID-19 hospitalization

Kevin Van Ostenbridge

Manatee County Commissioner Kevin Van Ostenbridge remains hospitalized with an apparent breakthrough case of COVID-19.

The first-term Republican official is currently undergoing treatment for COVID-19 at Blake Hospital, according to county government spokeswoman Chloe Conboy.

Van Ostenbridge received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine in June. That’s around the time a COVID-19 outbreak occurred in the IT department in the Manatee County administration building in Bradenton. Two unvaccinated employees died, and County Administrator Scott Hopes disclosed at the time the fatal impact prompted one unvaccinated County Commissioner to get the vaccine then.

Since then, Manatee County has continued to deal with outbreaks in other departments and has seen one other employee die from the disease.

Van Ostenbridge provided a public statement to media praising the medical care he is receiving at Blake, where he remains in stable condition.

“I want to thank my family and friends for the support they’ve shown and I look forward to returning back to work to represent my constituents,” Van Ostenbridge said.

The Department of Health in Manatee County has already completed contact tracing.

Van Ostenbridge last week attended Commission meetings remotely after testing positive for the coronavirus.

Data released Friday by the Department of Health shows 19.1% of Manatee County residents tested for COVID-19 last week had results come back positive. Epidemiologists consider the spread of a virus out of control when positivity rates reach 10%

About 56% of Manatee County residents as of Friday are vaccinated, according to DOH data compared to the latest census numbers released last week.

Over the course of the pandemic, 88,946 Manatee County residents have tested positive for the virus, or 11.69% of the total population.

The Florida Hospital Association has reported that about 5% of hospitalizations in the state are for vaccinated individuals, the majority of whom have more mild cases than those who are hospitalized and unvaccinated.