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- Five south Florida police officers died from COVID-19 over the course of one week.
- COVID-19 is the leading cause of law enforcement deaths this year, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page.
- Over 75 doctors staged a walk-out Monday in south Florida to protest COVID-19 patients overwhelming the healthcare system.
- Visit Insider's homepage for more stories.
Five police officers in South Florida died from COVID-19 within one week of each other, as the Delta variant continues to tear through the state and severely strain its hospital system.
According to the Officer Down Memorial Page, COVID-19 is the leading cause of death for law enforcement in 2021. At least 103 police officers have died this year from complications caused by the disease, according to the page, which doesn't yet list four of the south Florida officers.
The Miami Police Department announced the death of Officer Edward Perez, who worked for the department for 25 years, on Twitter on August 19. Perez leaves behind a wife and a daughter.
The Florida Department of Highway and Motor Safety announced the August 14 death of Trooper Lazaro R. Febles on Twitter as well.
Coral Springs Police Sergeant Patrick Madison died on August 20, according to a statement from CPSD Police Chief Clyde Parry.
West Palm Beach Police Officer Robert Williams died from complications related to COVID-19, according to an August 20 statement from the department. He is survived by his wife and sons.
Fort Lauderdale Police Officer Jennifer Sepot died of complications from COVID-19 on August 14, the department said in a statement on Facebook.
Several law enforcement officers have died from COVID-19 this month across the southeastern US. Two sheriffs in Mississippi died within six days of each other, including the sheriff of the state's most populous county. Another police officer in Pelham, Alabama recently died from COVID-19.
More than 17,000 people hospitalized in Florida are COVID-19 patients, according to the US Department of Health & Human Services data from Saturday. Over 75 doctors in South Florida staged a walk-out Monday to protest the high amount of COVID patients coming into their hospitals.
"Vaccines are safe and we need to get our communities vaccinated," Dr. JT Snarski, one of the doctors who staged the walk-out, told MSNBC.