Florida has also seen a case increase of about 1,589 percent since the state began its first phase of reopening on May 4, according to historical data compiled by the COVID Tracking Project.
Ocala-News first brought attention to the percentage increase of new cases in an analysis of state data published last week. As of Friday, August 28, the Ocala-based news site reported a nearly 948 percent increase in new cases since June 3, the date on which local officials allowed bars to reopen with limited indoor capacity.
The thousands of new cases reported in the days since bring the state’s total to 623,471 cases as of Monday, August 31. According to the COVID Tracking Project data, the rise in cases since June 3—when the state’s reported case total was 58,764—represents an increase of 960.97 percent.
Before bars started reopening in early June, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis began to slowly reopen businesses on May 4, with social distancing and indoor capacity restrictions in place. At the time that first phase of reopening began, the state had only reported 36,897 cases, a number that has increased by about 1,589 percent in the nearly four months since.
Florida was one of a handful of states that saw drastic increases in new cases in June and July. In response to spiking case numbers, DeSantis temporarily reimposed some restrictions in an attempt to slow the spread of the virus, including a halt on alcohol sales in bars throughout the state.
Though the state’s total case count has significantly increased over the past few months, so too have the number of cases in other hard-hit states like Arizona, California and Texas. Like Florida, all three states were identified as hot spots in June as new daily case counts began rising by the thousands. In Arizona, the state’s total number of cases has increased by about 1,380 percent since Governor Doug Ducey began lifting restrictions in mid-May. In Texas, cases have increased by more than 1,980 percent since Governor Greg Abbott began its first phase of reopening on May 1. Though California was slower than the others to reopen, it too has seen a drastic rise in cases in recent months and currently leads the country as the state with the greatest number of confirmed cases, with just shy of 700,000 reported by Sunday, August 30.
The U.S. breached 6 million total cases on Monday, according to data compiled by researchers at Johns Hopkins University. The country surpassed 1 million total cases in late April as many states were on the verge of starting the reopening process, equating to a roughly 440 percent increase in reported U.S. cases since reopening efforts began.
Newsweek reached out to the Florida Department of Health for comment but did not receive a response in time for publication.
