The US state of Florida, on Sunday, set a new one-day record with 15,000 new COVID-19 cases.
Florida has currently recorded 269,800 cases and ranks fourth in the highest number of cases behind the US, Brazil and India. The daily tally of cases in the state is higher than that of any European countries at the peak of the pandemic.
Florida also reported that intensive care units in the state were full due to COVID-19 patients.
The US, on the whole, reported more than 60,000 cases on Saturday. A high number of cases were reported in the states of Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Dakota, Texas and Tennessee.
Public health officials say widespread community transmission took place after stay-at-home-orders were lifted and businesses were reopened.
“Bottom line is, more people are mobile and they’re not necessarily taking the precautions we think would help,” said Dr Marissa Levine, a professor at the University of South Florida College of Public Health was quoted as saying in a New York Times report.
Even as health officials have been pleading with the public to wear masks, anti-mask activists are planning protests in Missouri and Michigan arguing that the measures infringe upon individual freedom.
Meanwhile, the Trump administration, backed by Secretary for Education Betsy DeVos, is keen on reopening schools in the country. De Vos added that the department of education did not have any reopening plans and that each school should create their own plans to reopen safely based on local coronavirus numbers.
