Continuing his record weekFlorida has reported 9,585 new positive cases of COVID-19, breaking the previous day’s record of 8,942 cases. The state total is now 132,545 cases.
Hospitalizations have reached 14,136, according to the Florida Department of Health. About 3,400 people have died in Florida from COVID-19.
Florida broke its own record for new daily cases most days last week. The state also broke its own test record on Friday, administering more than 78,000 tests. Conservative politicians, including President Donald Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, have attributed the recent spikes to higher test rates.
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The alarming increase in the cases has forced DeSantis and other government officials to reconsider the state’s reopening plans, which have so far advanced. On Friday, DeSantis issued an order prohibiting all bars from serving alcohol, and on Saturday, Miami-Dade County announced that it is closing all the beaches for the weekend of the fourth of July.
DeSantis’ efforts are now primarily targeted at youth.
“What we have seen, particularly in the last week, is a real explosion in new cases among our younger demographic groups,” he told reporters. “When we started this in March, the median age of people who tested positive was, I think, 65 years old. As the tests increased, that was in the 1950s. But it was almost in the 1950s that most of the time and then recently it has really sunk. “
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