Florida reported on Sunday a record increase of more than 15,000 new cases of Covid-19 in 24 hours, a day after the reopening of Walt Disney World in Orlando and that anti-mask activists held a demonstration at a nearby restaurant.
If Florida were a country, it would rank fourth in the world with the highest number of daily cases, behind the United States, Brazil and India, according to a Reuters analysis.
The increase in Florida has already exceeded the highest number of daily cases reported by any European country during the height of the pandemic on that continent. Florida has also broken New York State’s record of 12,847 new cases on April 10, when the city was the epicenter of the outbreak in the United States.
Walt Disney Co. welcomed a limited number of customers at its two most popular parks in Orlando on Saturday with a series of security measures, including face masks and temperature controls.
Virus infections are on the rise in about 40 states in the United States, according to a Reuters analysis of cases in the past two weeks, compared to the previous two weeks.
The United States has broken world records by registering some 60,000 new cases daily for four days in a row, according to a Reuters count. Hospitalizations and test positive rates are also increasing in the outbreak focus states: Arizona, California, Florida and Texas.
Health officials have pleaded with the public to wear masks to limit the spread of the virus, but the issue has become a matter of political contention in the United States, unlike other countries that have seen much lower infection and death rates.
Many Americans still refuse to wear a mask, which health experts say helps stop transmission of the virus that has killed more than 134,000 Americans.
Anti-mask activists staged a protest Saturday at a restaurant in Windermere, Florida, which is in Orange County about 12 miles from Walt Disney World.
The restaurant, 33 & Melt, has become a hotbed after its owner, Carrie Hudson, said she would not require customers to wear masks. County officials have ordered the use of masks in public since June 20.
During Saturday’s protest, no customers covered their faces inside the restaurant. Agents from the state’s Alcoholic Beverage and Tobacco Division arrived during the demonstration and warned Hudson, according to a video.
“This is a very well-contained virus,” said one of the protesters, anti-mask activist Tara Hill. “Everyone is responsible for their own decisions about health care … We want our decisions to be respected as well.”
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