Richard Luscombe sends this report from Miami on the rising number of coronavirus cases in Florida:
New coronavirus cases in Florida have set a daily record for the second day in a row. State figures released Friday morning show 1,902 more cases of Covid-19, up another 204 on Thursday’s previous record tally.
Florida, one of the first US states to reopen, is among those to have seen cases rising again significantly in recent days. According to the Florida Department of Health, new cases have topped 1,000 every day since 2 June, compared to only three of the previous 19 days from 13 May until the end of the month.
An increase in testing accounts for some of the spike, but fears remain that Florida opened up too soon. Ron DeSantis, the Republican governor, has touted what he calls a “safe, smart” recovery plan, which saw 64 of Florida’s 67 counties moving to Phase Two – including partial reopening of bars, theaters, gyms and vacation rentals – on 5 June. (The three counties most affected by coronavirus, Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach, remain under tighter restrictions.)
On Friday, the Miami Herald published a withering analysis, based on public and non-public data, of how Florida at first flattened the curve from its April peak, then began to reverse that progress as DeSantis pressed ahead with reopening despite federal guidelines not being met.
The newspaper also pointed out that in the 64 counties already at Phase Two, new cases of Covid-19 were up almost 42 per cent, with only an eight per cent increase in testing over the same period.
“The governor’s first priority in reopening Florida continues to be maintaining the health and safety of all residents,” Alberto Moscoso, spokesperson for the state’s health department, told the Herald. Experts from the Johns Hopkins school of public medicine, however, said on Monday that Florida’s seven-day average was “approximately equal to its peak in early April and is still increasing.”
Before Thursday, Florida’s previous record high of new daily cases was 1,419, set on 4 June. Overall, the state now has 70,391 confirmed cases of Covid-19, according to its department of health database, and has recorded 2,877 deaths.
