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Saturday, the state of Florida reported more new COVID-19 cases to the Centers for Disease Control than any previous day in the coronavirus pandemic: 21,683.
That’s a 12.1% jump over the previous record, Jan. 7’s 19,334 cases during the worst month of the pandemic. Daily case counts routinely surpassed 10,000 as the pandemic peaked a second time. In the succeeding months, daily case counts returned to 2,000 and 8,000.
The last half of July looks like the start of Florida’s third COVID-19 peak, as the case numbers reported Thursday (17,093), Friday (17,589) and Saturday mix in with Jan. 6-8 to comprise the top six individual case count days. The average over the last seven days is 15,817 cases.
By comparison, on July 12, 2020, the state reported a then-national record of 15,300 cases.
Florida, which represents about 6.5% of the U.S. population, accounts for about 21.4% of the country’s new cases, based on the state’s data reporting to the CDC. Florida also reported 108 deaths Saturday, eight days after reporting 148 deaths. Before this most recent surge, you have to go back to March 26 to find a higher single-day death count (159).
The positive test rate of 18.1% is more than twice the national average of 7.8%. Florida currently has the highest daily hospital admissions of the entire pandemic, according to CDC data. New admissions rose more than 50% from the previous week, the data show.
Governor Ron DeSantis, considered a possible Republican presidential candidate in 2024, has staked his record on keeping the state free from most virus restrictions, including mask mandates. On Friday, he signed an executive order that effectively would block schools from issuing mask mandates.
“I just want to say, in Florida there will be no lockdowns, there will be no school closures,” he told supporters on Friday. “Floridians have been, are and will remain free to choose what’s best for themselves and their families.”
