New COVID-19 cases have continued to pop up at a record pace across Florida since Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Phase Two of his plan to reopen the state amid the pandemic.
Since the governor made the announcement on June 3 that bars, movie theaters, bowling alleys, arcades and auditoriums could begin to reopen at 50-percent capacity indoors with strict sanitation and social distancing guidelines in place – and full capacity outdoors – Florida’s COVID-19 numbers have skyrocketed, with a four-digit increase every day except one, which fell just shy of the 1,000 mark.
The marked increase clearly became a concern for DeSantis last week, as he had the Florida Department of Business Department of Business and Professional Regulation shut down bars for a second time. In a press conference this past Friday, he said the majority of new cases are among asymptomatic younger people – many of whom have ignored social distancing orders and have been out in large groups. Earlier, the governor had blamed the continued spike on more testing and new cases among migrant farm works who live and work in close quarters, as well as cases in jails and prisons.
DeSantis’ reasoning doesn’t explain a disturbing trend in the Sumter County portion of The Villages. In the past 16 days, 39 Villages residents living in the county where most of the mega-retirement community’s homes are located have contracted the COVID-19 virus, with the total number of cases in the community sitting at 118 – 106 in Sumter County, 10 in Lake County and two in Marion County.
Not surprisingly, that type of trend is showing in most parts of the Sunshine State. In fact, when DeSantis made the Phase Two announcement on June 3, there were 58,764 cases being reported in Florida. As of Tuesday, that number had ballooned to 152,434 – a increase of 93,670 new patients. The breakdown by day, beginning with the day after the announcement, is as follows:
- Thursday, June 4: 60,183, increase of 1,419;
- Friday, June 5: 61,488, increase of 1,305;
- Saturday, June 6: 62,758, increase of 1,270;
- Sunday, June 7: 63,938, increase of 1,180;
- Monday, June 8: 64,904, increase of 966;
- Tuesday, June 9: 66,000, increase of 1,096;
- Wednesday, June 10: 67,371, increase of 1,371;
- Thursday, June 11: 69,069, increase of 1,698;
- Friday June 12: 70,971, increase of 1,902;
- Saturday June 13: 73,552, increase of 2,581;
- Sunday June 14: 75,568, increase of 2,016;
- Monday June 15: 77,327, increase of 1,759;
- Tuesday June 16: 80,109, increase of 2,782;
- Wednesday June 17: 82,719, increase of 2,610;
- Thursday June 18: 85,926, increase of 3,207;
- Friday, June 19: 89,748, increases of 3,822;
- Saturday, June 20: 93,797, increase of 4,049;
- Sunday, June 21: 97,291, increase of 3,494;
- Monday, June 22: 100,217, increase of 2,926;
- Tuesday, June 23: 103,503, increase of 3,286;
- Wednesday, June 24: 109,014, increased of 5,511;
- Thursday, June 25: 114,018, increase of 5,004;
- Friday, June 26: 122,960, increase of 8,942;
- Saturday, June 27: 132,545, increase of 9,585;
- Sunday, June 28: 141,075, increase of 8,530;
- Monday, June 29: 146,341, increase of 5,266; and
- Tuesday, June 30: 152,434, increase of 6,093.
As of Tuesday, Florida was reporting 152,434 COVID-19 cases and 3,505 deaths. Across the United States, more than 2.62 million cases have been reported, with 129,545 deaths. Globally, the number of cases quickly is approaching 10.4 million, with 509,706 deaths.
