Fla. hottest zoneAP
Smashes U.S. mark with 15,000 new cases
Florida reported almost 15,300 new cases of coronavirus Sunday, breaking the national record for a single-day total.
California previously held the record with 11,694 daily cases, reported Wednesday, followed by New York with 11,571 cases on April 15.
Florida’s infection numbers have skyrocketed during the past week, bringing totals to almost 270,000.
Another 45 deaths were also reported Sunday. At least 514 Floridians have died over the past week and more than 4,300 since the pandemic began.
The median age of people testing positive is 39, according to the Florida Health Department.
The Health Department also reported an 11.3% positivity rate. Last week, the countrywide positivity rate was 8.8%.
The Sunshine State has seen cases jump as more businesses continue to reopen, p sometimes against g the guidance of health officials.
Magic Kingdom and Animal Kingdom both opened Saturday at Disney World, and guests crowded the theme park, despite socialdistancing guidelines.
The Republican National Convention is still set for Jacksonville next month, but officials have started considering outdoor facilities instead of the indoor VyStar
Veterans Memorial Arena, The Washington Post reported last week.
The NBA is also set to resume its season July 30 and has set up a “bubble” in Orlando for players, coaches, training staff and other personnel. Team training camps began last week.
The CEO of AdventHealth, the state’s largest hospital chain, said on “Face the Nation” on Sunday that the medical facilities have enough personal protective equipment and supplies to handle the influx of hospitalized patients.
“We’re much better prepared in July than we were in March,” Terry Shaw said before the latest numbers were released. “Our length of stay in our ICU for COVID patients has dropped in half. The number of people coming into our hospital with COVID that need a ventilator, we’ve also been able to cut that in half, and because of those things, our death rate has also been cut in half over that time period.”
But as of Friday, almost 85% of the state’s ICU beds are occupied, according to the state’s Agency for Health Care Administration.
Gov. Ron DeSantis has continued brushing off concerns.
“We’ve got the census today. I think between 10 and 12 or 13 thousand — somewhere like that — beds are available,” he said Friday. “There’ll be articles saying, ‘Oh, my gosh. They’re at 90%.’ Well, that’s how hospitals normally run.”