AS DISNEY WORLD IN ORLANDO REOPENED ITS DOORS OVER THE WEEKEND, FLORIDA REPORTED MORE THAN 15,000 NEW CASES OF COVID -19 ON SUNDAY, SETTING A RECORD FOR THE LARGEST SINGLE- DAY SURGE IN ANY U. S. STATE.

Anti-mask protests planned in several states

Florida reported a record increase of more than 15,000 new cases of COVID-19 in 24 hours on Sunday, as the Trump administration renewed its push for schools to reopen and anti- mask protests were planned in the state as well as in Michigan and Missouri.

If Florida were a country, it would rank fourth in the world for the most new cases in a day behind the United States, Brazil and India, according to a Reuters analysis.

Florida’s daily increases in cases have already surpassed the highest daily tally reported by any European country during the height of the pandemic there. It has also broken New York state’s record of 12,847 new cases on April 10 when it was the epicentre of the U.S. outbreak.

The World Health Organization also reported a record increase in global coronavirus cases on Sunday, with the total rising by 230,370 in 24 hours.

The biggest increases were from the United States, Brazil, India and South Africa, according to a daily report. The previous WHO record for new cases was 228,102 on July 10. Deaths remained steady at about 5,000 a day.

Global coronavirus cases were approaching 13 million on Sunday, according to a Reuters tally, marking another milestone in the spread of the disease that has killed more than 565,000 people in seven months.

Florida’s latest rise in cases was reported a day after Walt Disney World in Orlando reopened with a limited number of guests who were welcomed with a host of safety measures, including masks and temperature checks.

Anti-mask activists in several states have organized protests against local mandates, arguing that the measures infringe upon individual freedom.

Coronavirus infections are rising in about 40 states, according to a Reuters analysis of cases for the past two weeks compared with the prior two weeks. Nationally, the United States has broken global records by registering about 60,000 new cases a day for the last four days in a row, according to a Reuters tally. Hospitalizations and positive test rates are also rising in Arizona, California, Florida and Texas.

Facing a battered economy as he seeks re- election in November, President Donald Trump has pressured states to reopen shuttered businesses and schools.

Education Secretary Betsy Devos said on Sunday that her department did not have its own safe reopening plans to promote, and each school district and state must devise their own plans based on their local coronavirus infection rates.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi leader on Sunday sharply criticized the Trump administration’s push for a return to school in the fall.

“Going back to school presents the biggest risk for the spread of the coronavirus,” Pelosi said on CNN. “If there are (Centers for Disease and Control Prevention) guidelines, they should be requirements.”

The federal government can make the health safety measures requirements, as state governors are doing, she said. Critics of the Trump administration’s pandemic response have long called for a national strategy on mitigation efforts.

Health officials have also pleaded with the public to wear masks to limit the spread of the virus, but the issue has become politically divisive in the United States unlike many other countries that have seen far lower rates of infection and death.

Seven months into the pandemic, Trump wore a mask for the first time in public when he visited a Washington D. C.- area military medical centre on Saturday. He had previously refused to wear a mask in public or ask Americans to wear face coverings, saying it was a personal choice.

Many Americans still refuse to wear a mask, which health experts say can help stop transmission of the virus that has killed more than 134,000 Americans.

Anti-mask activists organized a protest on Saturday at a grilled cheese restaurant and bar in Windermere, Fla., which is in Orange County about 19 kilometres from Walt Disney World.

The restaurant, 33 & Melt, has become a focal point of tension after owner Carrie Hudson said she was not requiring customers to wear masks. County officials have mandated the use of masks in public since June 20.

During Saturday’s protest, no customers wore face coverings inside the restaurant. Agents from the state’s Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco arrived during the rally and served Hudson with a warning, according to a video.

“This is a virus that is very well contained,” said one of the demonstrators, anti- mask activist Tara Hill. “Everyone is responsible for their own health care decisions ... We want our choices respected as well.”

In addition to a record 15,000 new cases on Sunday, more than four dozen hospitals in Florida reported that their intensive care units are full due to a surge in COVID-19 patients.

Protesters were also planning to gather outside city hall in Springfield, Mo., on Monday, where the city council was due to vote on a mask mandate in response to rising cases and a more than fourfold increase in Greene County’s COVI D-19 hospitalizations in the last month.

GOING BACK TO SCHOOL PRESENTS THE BIGGEST RISK FOR THE SPREAD OF THE CORONAVIRUS.