As many businesses in Florida reopened last week under the state’s phase two reopening, Florida’s COVID-19 cases have surged to record highs.
On Saturday morning, the state recorded a new daily record high of 2,581 new confirmed cases of COVID-19, a 35% increase of the previous daily high recorded just the day before.
On Sunday, another 2,016 cases were confirmed representing the second-highest daily total confirmed since the coronavirus pandemic began.
It also marks the 11th day out of the past 12 that the state has announced over 1,000 new cases as social distancing restrictions loosen.
- Sunday: 2,016
- Saturday: 2,581
- Friday: 1,902
- Thursday: 1,698
- Wednesday: 1,371
- Tuesday: 1,096
- Monday: 966
- June 7: 1,180
- June 6: 1,270
- June 5: 1,305
- June 4: 1,419
- June 3: 1,317
Florida is now up to 75,568 total cases and 2,931 deaths associated with COVID-19, according to the latest numbers released by the health department.
While bars, pubs, and movie theatres have been allowed to reopen, many of these businesses are under threat of the virus. In St. Petersburg, Tampa Bay, three bars announced their closure over the weekend as several of their staff tested positive for COIVD-19.
Florida governor Ron DeSantis earlier attributed the spike in numbers to a farmworkers outbreak. “I think the No. 1 outbreak we’ve seen is in the agriculture communities,” he said in a visit to Coral Gables for a bill signing. “There was just a big case dump in north central Florida where there’s a watermelon farm. These are workers that are working close together. Once one gets it, it tends to spread very rapidly”, DeSantis said on Friday.
