Today Florida logged 1,698 new coronavirus cases, its largest single day spike since the beginning of the pandemic, bringing the state’s overall total to 69,069, and 2,848 deaths.
The record spike comes as much of Florida now enters Phase II of reopening, which includes bars, movie theaters, museums, and concert venues. Also, many of the state's zoos, theme parks, and attractions are also reopening for the first time since March.
While experts say the number of positive cases per 100,000 tests have also jumped, DeSantis argues that the current rise in new cases is due to more testing.
“Part of this, I said from the very beginning, one of our goals was to increase testing just when we were entering the pandemic, but then a key part of the reopening is to really have widespread testing, so we’re now seeing that,” said DeSantis to reporters last week. “Testing more is good. It’s more convenient than ever before, but don’t mistake identifying more cases for thinking that there are more cases one day compared to two months ago.”
Currently Florida, has tested over 1.3 million people; 5.3% of those tests have come back positive for COVID-19.
Meanwhile in Tampa Bay, cases have also spiked. The area saw 328 new cases and seven new deaths on Thursday. Also, Hillsborough added 147 new cases, a new record high.
Support local journalism in these crazy days. Our small but mighty team is working tirelessly to bring you up to the minute news on how Coronavirus is affecting Tampa and surrounding areas. Please consider making a one time or monthly donation to help support our staff. Every little bit helps.
Follow @cl_tampabay on Twitter to get the most up-to-date news + views. Subscribe to our newsletter, too.
This article appears in Jun 11-17, 2020.