TAMPA, Fla. — Florida is on track to surpass more than 1 million positive COVID-19 cases as early as Tuesday. Only Texas and California match the infection rate.
“That has been expected and predicted,” said University of South Florida professor Dr. Jay Wolfson.
Health experts are calling it “a surge on top of a surge,” they expect Christmas and the New Year to bring even higher positive numbers.
“By the second week of January we’ll be seeing about 15,000 cases a day in the Tampa Bay area,” Dr. Wolfson said. “That’s [about] 5,000 cases a day in Hillsborough County alone. If the numbers we’re seeing now continue.”
That will put an even bigger strain on local hospitals.
Wolfson says the best way to not get 15,000 cases a day is “wear your mask, social distance, and wash your hands.”
“We are all in this together,” he said. “For the time being, it’s going to require a personal and community discipline.”
Below, are the latest Florida Numbers:
Florida's number of positive coronavirus cases is 999,319 on Monday, according to the Florida Department of Health (DOH).
Of those total positive cases, 983,370 are Florida residents and 15,949 are non-Florida residents.
There was an increase of 6,658 new cases and 97 deaths on Monday.
The official positivity rate in Florida is at 8.40%.