Florida breaks COVID-19 cases record some hospitals near collapse

Florida announced on Sunday, July 12  that in the last 24 hours more than 15,300 people contracted the coronavirus, a record not only for that state but for the entire United States ans is now the new epicenter of the virus in the country.

 The Sunday increase left behind the record that California made last week with 11,694 new daily cases and the figure of 11,571 reported on April 15 by New York.

The rapid increase in cases has put Florida hospitals, which have 76.4% of the beds for general use, and 81.2% of the intensive care beds (ICU), on the ropes, said Sunday the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA).

The situation is worse in Miami-Dade County, the most populous in the state, and where 94.8% of beds are being used for intensive care.

This Sunday, Miami-Dade Republican Mayor Carlos Giménez warned that county hospitals may soon run out of beds and fans for the most seriously ill patients.

The councilor indicated that some hospital rooms have already been converted to intensive care units and stated that this work will continue.

Contagions Grow in 37 States
Cases have not grown in Florida alone, and in fact 37 of the 50 US states have seen increases in the past week, according to the independent count by Johns Hopkins University.

The number of new infections crossed the barrier of 60,000 cases on Saturday for the third consecutive day, dragged by the outbreaks in the south and west of the country, where hospitals in some states are about to collapse.

In addition to Florida, ten states are at the limit of their hospital capacity: Arizona has 79.1% of beds occupied, followed by Nevada (77.4%), Alabama (75, 1%), South Carolina (75%), Kentucky (74.7%), Massachusetts (74.6%), West Virginia (74%), Georgia (71.4%), Delaware (71.1%) and Texas (70.1%), according to government Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

President Donald Trump has resisted devising a strategy at the federal

level and his government this Sunday again asked schools to reopen their doors in August.