Florida sets one-day record with over 15 000 new coronavirus cases

Tigger entertains guests wearing masks as required to attend the official reopening day of the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. Picture: Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel via AP

Tigger entertains guests wearing masks as required to attend the official reopening day of the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. Picture: Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel via AP

Published Jul 12, 2020

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Florida - Florida reported a record increase of

more than 15,000 new cases of Covid-19 in 24 hours on Sunday, a

day after Walt Disney World in Orlando reopened and anti-mask

activists held a rally at a nearby restaurant.

If Florida were a country, it would rank fourth in the world

for the most new cases in a day behind the United States, Brazil

and India, according to a Reuters analysis.

Florida's daily increases in cases have already surpassed

the highest daily tally reported by any European country during

the height of the pandemic there. Florida has also broken New

York state's record of 12,847 new cases on April 10 when it was

the epicenter of the U.S. outbreak.

Walt Disney Co welcomed a limited number of guests

to its two most popular parks in Orlando on Saturday with a host

of safety measures including masks and temperature checks.

Coronavirus infections are rising in about 40 states,

according to a Reuters analysis of cases for the past two weeks

compared with the prior two weeks. Nationally, the United States

has broken global records by registering about 60,000 new cases

a day for the last four days in a row, according to a Reuters

tally. Hospitalizations and positive test rates are also rising

in the states at the center of the outbreak -- Arizona,

California, Florida and Texas.

Health officials have pleaded with the public to wear masks

to limit the spread of the virus, but the issue has become

politically divisive in the United States unlike many other

countries that have seen far lower rates of infection and death.

Seven months into the pandemic, President Donald Trump wore

a mask for the first time in public when he visited a Washington

D.C.-area military medical center on Saturday. Trump had

previously refused to wear a mask in public or ask Americans to

wear face coverings, saying it was a personal choice.

Many Americans still refuse to wear a mask, which health

experts say help stop transmission of the virus that has killed

more than 134,000 Americans.

Anti-mask activists organized a protest on Saturday at a

grilled cheese restaurant and bar in Windermere, Florida, which

is in Orange County about 12 miles (19 km) from Walt Disney

World.

The restaurant, 33 & Melt, has become a focal point of

tension after owner Carrie Hudson said she was not requiring

customers to wear masks. County officials have mandated the use

of masks in public since June 20.

During Saturday's protest, no customers wore face coverings

inside the restaurant. Agents from the state's Division of

Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco arrived during the rally and

served Hudson with a warning, according to a video.

"This is a virus that is very well contained," said one of

the demonstrators, anti-mask activist Tara Hill. "Everyone is

responsible for their own health care decisions ... We want our

choices respected as well."

Florida has posted record levels of coronavirus infections,

with over 10,000 new cases five times in the last 10 days. In

addition, more than four dozen hospitals in Florida reported

that their intensive care units are full due to a surge in

Covid-19 patients.

Reuters

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