Coronavirus Live Updates: Florida Sets Daily U.S. Record With Over 15,000 New Cases
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Credit...Saul Martinez for The New York Times
Sun 12 Jul 2020
Florida reports more than 15,000 new cases, a daily record for the U.S.
More than 15,000 new cases of the coronavirus were announced on Sunday in Florida, marking the highest single-day total of known cases in any state since the start of the pandemic.
Florida’s surge soared past the previous record, set in New York, of more than 12,000 cases in a day. That occurred in April, during the worst of the outbreak there, when testing was scarce. And Florida is reporting far fewer deaths than New York.
Florida also saw single-day records in the counties that include Florida’s largest cities, including Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, Fort Myers, West Palm Beach, Pensacola and Sarasota.
The U.S. outbreak is growing across 37 states. More than 60,000 new coronavirus cases were announced on Saturday, more than any day of the pandemic except Friday, when the country recorded more than 68,000 — setting a single-day record for the seventh time in 11 days.
The country’s seven-day death average reached 700 on Saturday, up from 471 on July 5, but still well below the more than 2,200 deaths the country averaged each day in mid-April. And eight states set single-day death records over the last week: Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Dakota, Texas and Tennessee. Alaska reached a new single-day record. on Sunday, with more than 110 cases.
Florida has recorded more than 269,800 cases, with more than 4,200 total deaths, according to a New York Times database.
The increase has added strain on hospitals. In Miami-Dade County, Fla., six hospitals have reached capacity as virus cases spike. The increase in cases caused Mayor Carlos Gimenez to roll back reopening plans by imposing a curfew and closing restaurants for indoor dining.
“We’ve definitely had a sharp increase in the number of people going to the hospital, the number of people in the I.C.U., and the number of people on ventilators,” he said. “We still have capacity, but it does cause me a lot of concern.”
Public health experts said that the state has had widespread community transmission, which has intensified after stay-at-home orders were lifted and businesses reopened.
“Bottom line is, more people are mobile and they’re not necessarily taking the precautions we think would help,” said Dr. Marissa Levine, a professor at the University of South Florida College of Public Health.
The surge in cases had been fueled in large part by younger people, a segment of the population that became the most mobile in recent weeks, which is a factor in the lower death count compared to other places because the virus is likely to have a less severe toll, Dr. Levine said. But they have contributed to the virus spreading more widely.”
“It’s not hard for younger people coming home to parents or grandparents or working with older coworkers to spread,” Professor Levine said, “and I think that’s what we’re seeing.
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