Florida is emerging as a global epicenter of COVID-19 as health officials record nearly 10,000 new coronavirus cases, with deaths expected to surpass 4,000 by Thursday.
The state reported over 9,989 new cases and 48 additional deaths on Wednesday. The numbers brought the total toll to 223,782 infections and 3,991 fatalities since the pandemic began spreading across the United States in March.
An additional 335 hospitalizations have also been recorded on Wednesday, which brings the total number of people who had to seek hospital treatments for the novel coronavirus to 17,608, as reported by the Tampa Bay Times.
As of Wednesday, Broward County has 23,781 cases with health officials reporting 1,186 new cases. Palm Beach saw 593 additional cases, bringing its total to 18,231. In Miami-Dade, local authorities recorded 2,916 new cases, with its toll now at 53,974.
While state officials claim hospitals across the state have plenty of capacity, local officials report a shortage in bed spaces in intensive care units. A dashboard from the Agency of Health Care Administration (AHCA) showed over 42 medical facilities statewide have no ICU beds available.
Neither AHCA and the state's health department report the number of patients actively in a hospital at a given time. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis also refused to release data on hospitalizations publicly, The Hill says.
Prevention and Contact Tracing Efforts
Florida currently leads the nation with the most number of new cases over the past week. It has also seen the second-worst COVID-19 outbreak worldwide, trailing only behind Arizona.
Most of Florida's major cities, including Miami and Fort Lauderdale, have enforced face masks in a public setting to slow the spread of the virus. However, DeSantis refused to issue a statewide mask mandate. He also downplayed the threat of the outbreak, claiming most new cases affect younger people who are "generally healthier."
Experts say more aggressive and expansive testing is needed. The state conducts an average of 65,703 tests per day, which is double the recommended level. But the surge of cases may mean the standards are not sufficient, reports Tallahassee.com.
Florida also lacks professionals to conduct contact tracing. According to the National Association of County and City Health Officials, states should have 30 tracers for every 100,000 residents, which means Florida would need at least 6,400 contact tracers. Currently, the state only has 2,000.
Kathryn Waldron of the R-Street Institute said many counties have turned to technology to trace. In an interview with WFTV, she claimed the contact tracing apps are still seeing very mixed results, primarily because it is limited with the number of people willing to use them.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, contact tracing is a disease control strategy that can help officials identify and interrupt potential disease transmission. The system includes asking cases and contacts to voluntarily self-isolate to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
