Florida becomes second state to surge past half a million COVID-19 cases
Florida became the second state Wednesday to surpass 500,000 coronavirus cases. The only state with more cases is California.
According to Johns Hopkins University, California has more than 526,000 COVID-19 cases. Florida reported 5,495 new cases on Wednesday, bringing its total to 502,739.
The Florida Department of Health also reported an additional 225 deaths on Wednesday. More than 28,000 residents have been hospitalized with COVID-19 in the state since the pandemic began.
The city with the highest number of cases in the state is Miami, followed by Orlando, Jacksonville, Tampa and Hialeah. Florida has tested 3,820,683 people total.
Texas currently has the third-highest number, with over 466,000 cases. New York — once the epicenter of the virus in the U.S. — has more than 418,000, but reported three days in a row with zero deaths from the virus on Wednesday.
Last week, Florida faced record high coronavirus deaths as Hurricane Isaias shut down testing sites. At the same time, educators are racing to figure out how to teach their students, especially those without much-needed access to technology, as schools decide whether or not to reopen.
Over 157,000 Americans have died from coronavirus. On Monday, President Trump appeared to downplay the country's death toll, saying that the rate of about 1,000 Americans dying every day from the pandemic "is what it is."
"They are dying. That's true," the president said in an interview. "And it is what it is. But that doesn't mean we aren't doing everything we can. It's under control, as much as you can control it. This is a horrible plague that beset us."