Florida reports highest number of new COVID-19 cases in single day since pandemic began

Florida reported 21,683 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday – the highest number of infections in a single day since the start of the pandemic, according to data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Saturday.

In the past seven days, Florida has seen a 50% weekly increase in new cases, reporting 110,477 cases from July 23 to 29, according to the Florida Department of Health. As of July, Florida was one of four states that accounted for 40% of the country’s total infections, according to White House COVID-19 coordinator Jeff Zients. Meanwhile, the Sunshine State has recorded one in five new cases in the country, he said.

“There is no higher risk area in the United States than what we see here,” Florida International University infectious disease expert Dr. Aileen Marty told CBS Miami. “The numbers we are seeing are incredible, just unbelievably scary.”

As of Wednesday, 8,816 Florida residents were hospitalized with complications from COVID-19, and more than 95% of them were not fully vaccinated, according to the Florida Hospital Association (FHA). These patients, on average, also tended to be younger than those seen in previous peaks during the pandemic.

“What you heard last year and last spring about this virus mainly targeting the elderly and people with pre-existing illnesses is not true today,” said the President and CEO of the FHA, Mary C. Mayhew, in a statement.

Record number of cases comes a day after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed an executive order except school districts to require students to wear face masks when they return to class. Under the ordinance, parents will be able to choose whether or not their children wear masks in schools, despite updated guidelines this week from the CDC which recommended requiring everyone in K-12 schools to wear a mask.

“The federal government has no right to tell parents that in order for their children to attend school in person, they must be required to wear a mask all day, every day,” DeSantis said in a statement. .

The governor this week called on eligible residents of the state to get vaccinated. About 61% of Florida’s population is fully vaccinated, according to the Florida Department of Health.

“These vaccines save lives,” he told a press conference on Wednesday. “They reduce mortality.”