Florida has overtaken New York to become the state with the second highest number of coronavirus cases in the country.
According to data collected by Johns Hopkins University, Florida has had 414,511 confirmed cases since the pandemic began, while New York, which was once the epicenter of the outbreak, has had 411,200 cases.
Both states follow California, which has had more than 440,000 cases.
New York still has the most deaths of any state with more than 32,600. Florida has had nearly 5,800.
The news is particularly severe given how serious the COVID-19 outbreak had been in New York earlier this year, underscoring how alarming Florida’s current spike in cases has become.
New York established strict health restrictions earlier this year, issued an early home stay order, and closed many businesses. Meanwhile, Florida quickly reopened after initially keeping the number of cases and deaths relatively low compared to other places.
The Florida Department of Health reported more than 12,000 new cases Saturday on Friday. The state increase in cases has been largely driven by areas in South Florida, particularly Miami-Dade County.
Of all the people tested for COVID-19 in Florida on Friday, 11.43 percent received positive diagnoses.
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