Florida breaks record for COVID-19 hospitalizations in US
Aug 02, 2021
Florida [US], August 2 : Florida on Sunday (local time) broke its record for coronavirus hospitalisations a day after the state recorded the most daily COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic in early 2020, becoming the new epicenter of pandemic in the United States.
Al least 10,207 people in Florida are hospitalised with confirmed COVID-19 cases, according to data reported to the US Department of Health and Human Services, according to Fox News.
The previous record of 10,170 hospitalisations was from July 23, 2020, more than a half-year before vaccinations started becoming widespread, according to the Florida Hospital Association. Florida leads the nation in per capita hospitalisations for COVID-19.
The US state of Florida is becoming the new epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country as new cases have been surging recently, Xinhua citing Forbes reported.
According to the weekly report from the state's health department, Florida reported 110,477 new cases from July 23 to 29, which is about a 50 percent increase from the 73,196 cases in the week before.
However, Florida is "not taking all the steps needed to control the spread of the virus," said Forbes, noting that the state government is only reporting new cases on a weekly basis rather than daily.
Meanwhile, the state is not urging its people to take necessary measures such as keeping social distance and wearing masks. Governor Ron DeSantis on Saturday even asked the health and education department to "protect parents' freedom to choose whether their children wear masks in schools" on Twitter.
