Florida hospitals reported more than 8,900 patients with COVID-19 on Thursday, according to data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Florida Hospital Association said the state peaked at 10,179 cases last July.
An additional 17,500 cases, accounting for one-fifth of the national new caseload, and 56 new deaths, were reported by the state to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
According to NBC 6, University of South Florida epidemiologist, Dr. Jason Salemi, who maintains the most comprehensive, authoritative website focused on Florida Covid data, says if his charts could talk, they would be warning: watch out.
“We can talk about cases going up 600 percent in the past five weeks, we can talk about positivity going from 3.3 percent to over 15 percent in the same time period,” Salemi said.
The rapid rise in new cases has prompted officials in Miami-Dade and Orlando to issue new orders requiring masks indoors in county buildings, while the mayor of Orange County is forcing all nonunion county employees to get vaccinated by August.
On Wednesday, Governor Ron DeSantis spoke before the American Legislative Exchange Council in Salt Lake City, Utah. The group pushes Conservative policies in Republican-controlled state legislatures.
To enthusiastic applauds, DeSantis joked with the unmasked crowd about the CDC’s new mask rules, saying, “Did you not get the CDC’s memo,” and adding, “I don’t see you guys complying.”
DeSantis said Florida would “choose freedom over Fauci-ism,” taking aim at Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top epidemiologist.
“I think it’s very important we say, unequivocally, ‘No to lockdowns, no to school closures, no to restrictions, no to mandates,’” DeSantis said. “We’ll be holding the line. We will not back down.”
One-time Republican, Charlie Crist, now a Democrat challenging DeSantis next year, responded to the DeSantis speech, issuing a statement condemning it.
“Our hospitals are being overrun by sick patients, families are losing their loved ones, and our children are facing another difficult and confusing school year. But where’s Governor DeSantis? He’s profiting from selling merchandise that demonizes our nation’s top doctor” he said.
