Florida, 7 Percent of U.S. Population, Makes up Quarter of New U.S. Coronavirus Cases

Novel coronavirus cases in Florida have soared past 269,800, with its latest daily case count forming nearly 25 percent of the country's daily case tally.

Florida's population of nearly 21.5 million is around 6.5 percent of the total U.S. population. But the state's nearly 15,300 new infections Sunday formed over 24.9 percent of the nearly 61,400 new cases reported across the country that day, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

Sunday's reported daily case count was Florida's highest number recorded since the outbreak began.

Over 86.3 percent of the state's total confirmed cases were reported to be active cases (those currently being treated in hospitals or recovering at home), with 232,919 active cases recorded Sunday.

Since May 27, three weeks after most Florida counties entered phase one of reopening on May 4, the state's daily case count has mostly been on an increase.

Daily new infections in Florida began spiking sharply from around June 8, just days after the state entered phase two of reopening on June 5.

Florida's percentage of positive tests has been spiking from the week starting June 7 through the week starting July 5, jumping from 4.3 percent to 11.2 percent.

Hospitalizations in the state are approaching nearly 18,300 to date, according to the Florida Health Department.

Last week, at least 56 Florida hospitals were reported to have no intensive care unit (ICU) beds available. Over 90 percent of ICU beds were reported to be at full capacity across dozens more Florida hospitals, according to a report last Tuesday from Florida's Agency for Health Care Administration.

Several reopened bars in Florida were closed again around mid-June after customers tested positive for the virus.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis claimed that the recent surge in cases was not because the virus was spreading but rather due to increased testing. "I think we've stabilized where we're at," DeSantis said at a press conference last Monday.

Over 12.9 million people across the globe have been infected since the virus was first reported in Wuhan, China, including over 3.3 million in the U.S. More than 677 million globally have reportedly recovered from infection, while over 560,900 have died as of Monday, according to the latest figures from Johns Hopkins University.

The graphic below, provided by Statista, illustrates the surge in COVID-19 cases in the U.S.

The graphic below, provided by Statista, illustrates the spread of COVID-19 across the U.S.

The graphic below, provided by Statista, illustrates the countries with the most COVID-19 cases.