Florida is breaking records and not in a good way. The state set another record number of coronavirus cases in one day. The Florida Department of Health confirmed 3,822 additional cases were reported Thursday. This eclipsed the previous record of 3207 cases. The state also marked 43 deaths yesterday. The total of COVID-19 related deaths in the state now stands at 3104.
A Miami Herald analysis of public and non-public COVID-19 data found that as of June 3, new cases in Florida had consistently been trending up since mid-May and the trends could not be attributed solely to increases in testing.
And as bars, gyms, vacation rentals and movie theaters reopened at partial capacity in all but three South Florida counties, the number and rate of new COVID-19 cases were rising statewide — a troubling indicator that the disease could be spreading more quickly.
And Florida isn’t alone. The World Health Organization reports that Thursday marked the single highest daily case count world wide.
“The pandemic is accelerating.
More than 150K new cases of #COVID19 were reported to WHO yesterday – the most in a single day so far.
Almost half of those cases were reported from the Americas, with large numbers also being reported from South Asia & the Middle East”-@DrTedros
— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) June 19, 2020
In regards to the rising numbers in Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis continues to downplay the situation. The New Yorker writes that in the Sunshine State “constituents are left to fend for themselves.”
After insisting that he (DeSantis) wouldn’t suspend any of his reopening measures, he added that residents of the state should “make wise decisions for themselves based upon their own personal risk.”
In DeSantis’s America, which is Trump’s America, you are on your own, even during a pandemic.