Coronavirus: Florida has biggest single-day increase in positive cases of any US state since pandemic began

Governor Ron DeSantis has pledged to continue reopening state by returning students to school next month

Florida reported an increase of 15,299 coronavirus cases in data released on Sunday — the highest single-day increase of any US state since the pandemic began.

The Department of Health recorded a new total of 269,811 positive cases. The death toll also rose by 45 people, making a total of 514 deaths from Covid-19 in the state this week.

California previously held the record for the highest single-day increase with 11,694 cases on Wednesday. New York recorded 11,571 on 15 April at the height of the outbreak there.

Miami-Dade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez told CNN on Sunday that his county’s hospitals will soon reach capacity but he said more beds can be added, including for intensive care.

“We still have capacity, but it does cause me a lot of concern,” he said.

Florida has steadily moved to reopen much of its economy in the last two months with some of Disney World's theme parks welcoming visitors on Saturday, after months of closure.

Testing has doubled over the last month, going from about 25,000 tests per day to almost 50,000, but the percentage of people testing positive has risen even more dramatically. A month ago, fewer than 5% of tests came up positive on a daily average. Over the past week, the daily average exceeded 19%.

Doctors said that they anticipate the death toll will rise following the increased caseload. The mortality rate usually increases two to four weeks later as some of those infected get sicker and eventually die.

In the wake of the rising number of cases, health experts have expressed concerns over large gatherings in Florida.

University of Florida epidemiologist Dr Cindy Prins said that the state and local health departments should ramp up their contact tracing in addition to testing.

Dr Prins said that she is still concerned about large crowds, gyms and some restaurants as being places of mass transmission. Reports of illegal clubs and raves in South Florida is also a worry, she said.

The Republican National Convention's nomination party for President Trump is still scheduled for next month in Jacksonville, a city that has seen more than 12,000 confirmed cases and 76 deaths.

Governor Ron DeSantis said on Saturday that additional drugs and medical staff may be flown into the state to cope with the surge in numbers, noting that caring for and treating those with the virus is very labour intensive. A shipment of the experimental drug remdesivir has arrived in Florida, according to the governor.

Mr DeSantis has pledged to continue reopening the state by returning students to school next month — something that president Donald Trump has consistently urged states to do as another step in reopening the country.

"We know there are huge, huge costs for not providing the availability of in-person schooling," he said. "The risk of corona, fortunately, for students is incredibly low."

A total of 33 states have seen their case numbers rise this week. Three states have seen their death tolls rise by more than 100 per cent in four weeks.

Modelling by Nicholas Reich, a University of Massachusetts biostatician, indicates that the death toll nationwide could reach almost 150,000 by 1 August.

As of 12 July, the US has more than 3.3 million confirmed cases of Covid-19, and more than 135,000 officially recorded deaths.

Additional reporting by AP