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Florida Covid-19 Cases Hit Record; Texas Hospitalizations Rise

Florida Covid-19 Cases Hit Record; Texas Hospitalizations Rise

Florida’s new Covid-19 cases rose by the most ever Thursday, while hospital admissions for the virus climbed in Texas for a seventh day, further shifting fear to parts of the country that had fared comparatively well earlier in the pandemic.

At a press briefing Thursday, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo floated requiring visiting Floridians to quarantine for 14 days upon arrival, a measure similar to one Florida Governor Ron DeSantis took against New Yorkers in early March.

Florida reported 85,926 Covid-19 cases on Thursday, up 3.9% from a day earlier, compared with an average increase of 3% in the previous seven days. The 3,207 new cases were the most ever.

Mary Jo Trepka, epidemiology chair at Florida International University, said people around Miami are seeing the results of easing restrictions, crowds at antiracism protests and the end of the school year in early June.

“Kids are out of school and have more time on their hands,” Trepka said Wednesday from Palmetto Bay. “If we do start seeing a lot more cases, then the hospitals are going to have problems.”

This week, DeSantis said he was going forward with Florida’s reopening despite the increase in cases. On Wednesday, Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez said the same of his county, but he also warned that some residents were “getting a little too comfortable” and not wearing masks or maintaining an acceptable distance.

Hospitalizations of Florida residents rose by 188 in the past day to a cumulative 12,577 over the course of the pandemic. But on a trailing seven-day basis, new hospitalizations fell to 1,006, the first decline since June 13. Florida still has ample capacity in hospitals generally and in intensive-care units. Since mid-March, the median age of Florida’s Covid-19 patients has dropped by about half, to 37 last week, meaning the clinical consequences of more cases may not be as dire.

As governors face pressure to reinstate restrictions, New York appears to be trending in the opposite direction. New York City expects at least 150,000 workers to return and outdoor dining to resume Monday, according to Mayor Bill de Blasio.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.