Coronavirus case numbers continued to rise over the weekend, as Florida destroyed its previous record number of new infections in a single day on Sunday and outperformed all but eight countries worldwide for the highest number of cases.
In the state alone, more than 15,000 new positive tests for coronavirus were reported in the state alone, far exceeding the previous record of more than 12,000 infections.
Florida reported more than 12,000 new cases on Monday, more than all of Europe combined.
Nearly 60,000 Americans tested positive overall on Sunday, though the number of daily deaths remained low at 428, according to Johns Hopkins University monitoring. In hot spots like Florida and across the country, deaths have risen slightly, but remain low as experts warn that the increase in deaths is yet to come.
The sharp increase in cases in Florida comes as the state continues its reopening plan, which includes opening doors to Disney World, which allowed tourists to enter for the first time in months over the weekend.
Last week, the state reached a new number of deaths, but its daily deaths are still much lower than those seen in New York when it was the epicenter of the pandemic.
Despite this somewhat encouraging change, the United States remains the most affected country in the world, with more than 3.3 million coronavirus cases and more than 135,000 deaths.
Florida broke its previous record number of coronavirus cases on Sunday, reporting more than 15,000 new positive tests (far right; Monday’s data not yet shown).
Despite the sharp increase in coronavirus cases in Florida, the number of daily deaths has continued to decline f
While newly diagnosed cases remain high in past hotspots like Arizona and Texas, Florida is hands down the nation’s most concerning state.
In Texas, where multiple counties were overwhelmed by coronavirus cases, fewer than 8,800 new cases were diagnosed Sunday, compared to 15,300 in Florida.
Patterns similar to those seen in Texas are emerging in Florida. Hospitals in Miami-Dade County are now nearing capacity as coronavirus threatens to flood the health system.
Stocks of remdesivir, the only antiviral medication that has been shown to help coronavirus patients recover more quickly, are declining in Florida, leaving some state hospitals without effective treatments for their patients.
Despite a record increase in coronavirus cases, Florida’s beaches were crowded last weekend, with few masks in sight.
Last week, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo offered to ship the drug for one day to Florida.
The small shipment was enough to treat 280 patients and act as a stopgap for Florida on Saturday, as the state awaited delivery of remdesivir from the federal government.
Florida Governor Rick DeSantis said he had personally secured the new supply of President Trump’s antiviral, after vehemently denying that the state needed help from New York.
But the doctors there tell a different story.
“It has been very frustrating,” Dr. Eliot Godofsky, an infectious disease specialist in Bradenton, South Florida, told the Sun-Sentinel.
“Patients suffer and you feel terrible.”
So far, nearly 4,300 Floridians have died of coronaviruses, and their death rate has hovered just below 20 per 100,000 residents.
The rapid increase in coronavirus cases in Arizona has caused experts to hold their breath for a subsequent increase in deaths.
That’s below the rate seen in Arizona, where approximately 30 people per 100,000 residents have died from the virus.
The Massachusetts outbreak has been relatively under control, with fewer than 300 new cases diagnosed each day throughout July, but its death rate skyrocketed much more than that of Florida or Arizona, with 120 people dying for every 10,000.
California’s death rate is comparable to Florida’s, with 17.6 coronavirus deaths per 100,000 inhabitants, while Texas, a highly affected but populated country, has only about 10 coronavirus deaths per 100,000.
In part, the divergent patterns in cases and deaths, the sharp increase in cases, but the stable and relatively low number of deaths across the country and in many states reflects the massive increase in evidence.
North Carolina is being seen as a hot spot for emerging coronavirus, new daily infections and hospitalizations are on the rise
Idaho still has a low number of infections, but saw more than 400 new positive tests on Sunday. It has also exceeded its previous peak of hospitalizations.
Florida is now testing several times more people for coronaviruses every day than New York at the height of its crisis.
But experts warn that an increase in deaths may be to come, both in individual states like Florida and in the United States.
Estimates of lag times vary, but many experts have warned that mid-July could lead to an increase in deaths.
Modelers have projected that by that time, Florida could be seeing up to 20,000 new cases per day.
Emerging hot spots are also being closely watched.
Louisiana has passed its first peak of cases. On Sunday, more than 2,000 people tested positive.
North Carolina is also facing a growing crisis. He also saw more than 2,000 new cases on Sunday, and doctors are concerned that remdesivir will also run out.
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