With thousands of cases rising every day, Florida continues to suffer from COVID-19. Hospitals in the state said Wednesday that they are running out of ICU beds. The sheer number of victims threaten Florida’s healthcare system. If COVID-19 stays unchecked, this might be the fate of the entire US.
How Many COVID-19 Cases Are in Florida?
MSNBC reports that Florida has breached 300,000 confirmed cases since the start of the pandemic. In the past week alone, 77,000 people got infected. The Florida Department of Health said the state’s total is now 301,629.
Florida alone just exceeded the entire U.K. in confirmed coronavirus cases https://t.co/6erm8deOTS
— Newsweek (@Newsweek) July 16, 2020
Adding to the list are the 112 new deaths. With this number, NBC News projects Florida could hit 5,000 COVID-19 deaths. Florida also suffered another deadly day Tuesday, when it reported 133 deaths. It’s only second to July 1, when COVID-19 killed 145.
Florida Faces a Shortage of COVID-19 ICU Beds
The bad news keeps coming in as 54 Florida hospitals also now have zero ICU beds. Likewise, 40 more hospitals are closing in as they now “have less than 10 percent” ICU capacity.
Of the 54 hospitals, 10 of them are in Miami-Dade. The county holds the most people in the state, and it is Florida’s top COVID-19 hotspot.
What Florida’s Government Is Doing about COVID-19
Sadly, Florida doesn’t seem to take this new seriously. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis called the infection spike a “blip,” just as 9,000 more cases and 120 more deaths got reported two weeks ago.
The state had also planned to host the Republican National Convention later in the year. However, COVID-19 threatens to put a wrench to those plans.
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