The Florida Department of Health on Sunday reported 15,299 new Wuhan coronavirus cases. This is the largest number of cases reported in a single day. The record was previously held by New York when they reported 12,274 new cases, TIME reported.
The reason Florida saw an uptick in positive cases is because they also had a record-breaking number of tests that were conducted.
Florida just had their record-setting day for positive coronavirus cases. pic.twitter.com/hUOWO94T1l
— Beth Baumann (@eb454) July 12, 2020
They also had a record-breaking number of tests that were conducted, more than 142K. pic.twitter.com/CA1ut7S5vo
— Beth Baumann (@eb454) July 12, 2020
The state currently has 269,811 positive infections. In total, 18,271 people were hospitalized as a result of the virus. As of now, 2,576,813 people have been tested for the Wuhan coronavirus. That puts the Sunshine State's infection rate at 10.5 percent.
The number of positive cases has gone up over the last month. Last month, less than five percent of coronavirus tests came back positive. More than 19 percent of tests were positive over the past week, The Hill reported.
According to Rep. Donna Shalala (D), places like Miami are on the verge of seeing a second lockdown.
"It's out of control across the state because our governor won't even tell everybody to wear masks. At least in Miami-Dade county, everyone must wear a mask when they're outside," she told CNN Saturday night. "This is an American tragedy."
The uptick in positive cases was expected as the state doubled its testing capacity. Previously, Florida was testing 25,000 people a day. That number has since doubled to 50,000 tests per day.
Breaking News: Florida reported more than 15,000 new coronavirus cases, the highest single-day total for any U.S. state — including New York — since the pandemic began. https://t.co/SZze3S6bVu pic.twitter.com/FAd7en1hnj
— The New York Times (@nytimes) July 12, 2020
Florida records highest daily total of any state, including New York, since the beginning of the pandemic. pic.twitter.com/RrOWXzbOUl
— Krystal Ball (@krystalball) July 12, 2020
As of now, the state has no mask mandate. Walt Disney World also reopened on Saturday, despite concern from local public health care officials.
Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) has said he wants schools to reopen next month, despite the rising number of infections.
“We know there are huge, huge costs for not providing the availability of in-person schooling,” he said. “The risk of corona, fortunately, for students is incredibly low.”