Florida reports record high number of new COVID-19 cases

Florida reported 22,783 new COVID-19 cases on Friday, breaking its record for the highest single-day case count since the pandemic began.

The Sunshine State also broke the record for hospitalizations for a fifth day in a row at 12,864 patients admitted. The last record the state broke was July 31 at 21,683 new COVID-19 cases. 

The state, which has held record high numbers since the pandemic’s beginning, accounted for about 19 percent of all cases on Thursday, according to the Miami Herald. Florida also elevated its seven-day average from 2,478 to 18,933, a whopping 664 percent increase. 

Health officials link the escalation to the rapidly spreading delta variant. 

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) continues to urge residents of the area to get vaccinated.

“If you look at the people that are being admitted to hospitals … over 95% of them are either not fully vaccinated or not vaccinated at all,” DeSantis said in July. “These vaccines are saving lives. They are reducing mortality.”

Only about 50 percent of the state is fully vaccinated, according to Our World in Data.