Florida COVID Cases Skyrocket Two Weeks After Thanksgiving
Average daily coronavirus cases in Florida rose by nearly 25 percent on Sunday from the figure reported on November 30, the Monday after Thanksgiving. The state's average daily death toll also increased by over 34 percent on Sunday from the same date.
Florida's seven-day average of cases was at 9,693 on December 13, more than a 24.3 percent rise from the 7,797 average number of daily infections recorded on November 30.
The state's seven-day average of deaths was reported to be 98 on Sunday, a more than 34.2 percent rise from the 73 average number of daily deaths reported on November 30.
Florida's average case count has been climbing sharply since late October, while the average death toll has been increasing on a steep incline since early November.
On Sunday, there were reported to be 4,687 COVID-19 patients hospitalized, a 15 percent increase from the 4,059 COVID-19 hospitalizations recorded on November 30. Current COVID-19 hospitalizations have been rising sharply since late October, after flattening out in September, according to data compiled by The Atlantic's COVID Tracking Project.
The latest rises in Florida come as total confirmed cases approach 1.3 million, with over 19,800 reported deaths, as of Monday, according to Johns Hopkins University (JHU).
Speaking to Newsweek earlier this month, Dr. Anthony Fauci warned: "At least two to 2.5 weeks, maybe even three, between two and three weeks from when the travel [for Thanksgiving] started, that's when you're going to see the peaks."
"If you and I travel and then go home and have family dinners, you're gonna see infections two to three weeks from there and then a week later you'll see more hospitalizations and then two weeks later you'll see more deaths," Fauci noted.
When asked if he anticipates the post-Thanksgiving tallies for cases, deaths and hospitalizations being bad, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and member of the White House COVID-19 task force told Newsweek: "Unfortunately I do. I hate to say that but it's the truth and the reality. I do see that happening.
"I think January is going to be terrible because you're going to have the Thanksgiving surge super-imposed upon the Christmas surge. So it's entirely conceivable that January could be the worst," Fauci said.
The wider picture
The novel coronavirus has infected more than 72.3 million people, including over 16.2 million in the U.S., since it was first reported in Wuhan, China.
More than 1.6 million people have died worldwide and over 47.3 million have recovered as of Monday, according to John Hopkins University.
The graphic below, produced by Statista, shows the distribution of COVID-19 deaths across the globe.
The graphic below, provided by Statista, shows the spread of COVID-19 cases in the U.S.
