An infectious disease specialist warns that Florida is “going a million miles an hour in the wrong direction” in its management of the coronavirus pandemic.
“Right now, we are heading a million miles an hour in the wrong direction,” Dr. Aileen Marty, an expert who helped write the Miami-Dade reopening rules, told “CBS This Morning.”
He added, however, that people are not following the rules adequately and are playing a role in increasing COVID-19 cases in the area.
“It is absolutely the saddest, most unnecessary situation we find ourselves in,” Marty said. “And it’s driven by behavior.”
His warning comes when Florida recorded 10,109 new cases of COVID-19 on Wednesday, the highest single-day increase for the state. There are now more than 175,000 confirmed cases in Florida.
The state has seen record-breaking days of coronavirus cases and Gov. Ron De Santis (R) has said the state will not reverse the course of its reopening.
“We are not going back, closing things,” he said Wednesday. “I don’t think that’s really what drives it. People who go to a business are not what drives it. I think when you see the younger ones, I think a lot of this is more just social interactions, so that’s natural. “
The escalation cases have raised fears of further outbreaks at the July 4 weekend meetings. In response to those concerns, Miami-Dade County announced that it was imposing a curfew this weekend.
The curfew, which begins Friday night at 10 pm and lasts until 6 am, will be implemented “until further notice,” said Carolos Giménez, the county mayor.
Florida is one of the states most affected by COVID-19 at the moment, accounting for about 20 percent of new cases in the U.S.
The Texas, Arizona, and California area also reported record daily increases in cases.
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