Florida has once again shattered its single-day record for new coronavirus cases. The state reported 11,458 new cases overnight as it braces for the Fourth of July weekend.
According to the Florida Department of Health, the new cases bring the state’s total to over 190,000. The state has reported more than 15,700 hospitalizations and just over 3,700 deaths.
Over 2.1 million people have been tested for COVID-19 in Florida, hitting a daily high on Friday of over 85,000 people. Over 14% of the tests came back positive.
Positive cases in Florida skyrocketed last week. On Friday, Florida reported 9,488 new confirmed cases and 67 deaths, a day after setting a new daily record with more than 10,000 cases.
Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez implemented a 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. curfew beginning Friday — and continuing indefinitely. Beaches in the county are closed the entirety of the holiday weekend.
He also closed casinos, strip clubs, movie theaters and other entertainment venues, just a month after they were allowed to reopen, as hospitals in the region are pushed to their limits.
Gimenez said Miami-Dade police will be checking businesses throughout the holiday weekend to enforce mask and capacity rules, and closing establishments in violation. He emphasized that every generation needs to do its part to stop the spread of the virus.
A group of 10 Democratic lawmakers urged Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a Republican, on Friday to require Floridians to wear masks. The governor has thus far resisted those calls, even as Texas Governor Greg Abbott, another Republican, moved to do so Thursday.
During a press conference Tuesday, DeSantis said the state is “not going back” on reopening its economy.
“We’re not going back, closing things. I don’t think that that’s really what’s driving it, people going to a business is not what’s driving it,” he said.
