TALLAHASSEE — Florida has reported a three-day run of increased coronavirus cases as it reopens its economy and jockeys to host the Republican National Convention.
On Thursday, the Florida Department of Health reported 1,419 new coronavirus cases, the biggest single-day increase in cases since the state began reporting daily figures in March and a 2 percent increase in total cases, bringing the state's total to 60,183.
The previous highest reporting day was April 17, when the state reported 1,413 new cases, a 6 percent increase at the time.
On Wednesday, the department reported 1,317 additional cases, which had been the biggest one-day increase since the April 17 previous high.
More than 1,000 infections have been reported daily since Tuesday. Prior to that, reported infections last exceeded 1,000 on May 28 and, before that, May 20, according to the Florida Department of Health.
“The cases today represent what occurred about two weeks ago,” Jill Roberts, of the University of South Florida College of Public Health, told POLITICO. “Memorial Day weekends is likely to blame for the increase in cases, both due to relaxation of social distancing measures and the holiday resulting in more people moving about.”
The increase in daily reported cases are not connected to protests across the state sparked by the death of George Floyd, a black man who died after a white Minneapolis police officer held his knee on Floyd’s throat.
“These infections occurred weeks ago, they are not the result of current protests as some have suggested,” Roberts said. “The role of the current protests has yet to be determined as cases would not occur for another week or so.
”Helen Aguirre Ferré, communications director for Gov. Ron DeSantis, said the daily count of new infections should be taken in the context of other data. She highlighted that the 1,317 new cases posted June 3 represented a 3.5 percent positive rate, down from the 4.5 percent positive rate recorded June 2.
“Increased testing will show increased confirmed cases of COVID,” Ferré said in a written statement.
Testing in Florida has increased in recent weeks as the state boosts its number of sites and testing availability. Over the past two weeks, there have been an average of roughly 26,000 tests administered daily, with a high of 55,493 given on May 20.
Thursday's case total comes a day after DeSantis announced phase two of the state reopening for all counties except Miami-Dade, Palm Beach and Broward, which account for 55 percent of total statewide cases.
Retail stores now are allowed to operate at full capacity, while movie theaters, bowling alleys, restaurants and bars can operate at 50 percent capacity.
Roberts, the USF public health expert, said the more important metrics to watch are deaths and hospitalizations. In Florida, hospital beds and ventilators have never been at full capacity, a point DeSantis has emphasized.
DeSantis on Wednesday noted that the 64 counties that entered phase one of the reopening have experienced a 70 percent decrease in the use of ventilators by people who test positive. Statewide, there has been a 50 percent drop in the number of intensive care unit hospitalizations.
DeSantis is pushing to woo the Republican National Convention from North Carolina, an event that would bring thousands of party loyalists to the state and would likely be its first mass gathering since the pandemic began.
“The shape of the epidemic is just simply going to be different. Hopefully, it’s a lot better, but I think we’ll be able to make those decisions about what precautions need to be taken as you get closer,” DeSantis said Thursday on Fox & Friends.