HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla (WFLA) – Hospitals in Tampa are starting to see a slight decrease in COVID-19 hospitalizations over the last few weeks.

8 On Your Side spoke with the Chief Medical Officer for BayCare Health System and he said even though hospitalizations are seeing a decline, the number of COVID-19 patients is still high compared to their peak last year.

“On average we see about 100 COVID patients a day, that’s what we have been seeing. But during the peak it was a bit high that were coming in and needed to be admitted,” said Dr. Anand Nishant, Chief Medical Officer for BayCare.

It’s something that is happening across the county according to the Department of Health in Hillsborough County.

 “Hospital admissions are slowing, but they do remain higher than previous peaks that we have had,” said Kevin Watler, Public Information Officer for DOH-Hillsborough.

But it’s not just BayCare, DOH-Hillsborough said that that the slight decline is being seen by a lot of other hospitals in the area and around the state.

“This is data across the board. We don’t look at one hospital alone we look throughout the entire region and state. We are following the same trend throughout Florida,” added Watler.

Dr. Nishant believe the decrease could be due to more people getting vaccinated, monoclonal antibody treatments, and people who continue to wear masks.

“Even one fewer patient in the hospital with COVID is good day for us, but I think a fewer 100 folks in the hospital is a bit of reprieve,” added Dr. Nishant.

Healthcare leaders are hoping the hospitalizations continue to decrease, but they are a bit worried with the flu season and mu variant of COVID on the horizon.