Florida breaks record with more than 21,000 new COVID-19 cases

As per the federal health data, Florida has reported 21,683 new cases of COVID-19, making it the state's highest one-day total since the start of the pandemic.

The state has now become the new national epicentre for the virus as it accounts for around a fifth of all new cases in the US.

The state reported 409 deaths this week, bringing the total to more than 39,000 since its first in March 2020. 

The state's peak happened in mid-August 2020, when 1,266 people died over seven days.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has blamed the surge on a seasonal increase more Floridians are indoors because of the hot weather with air conditioning circulating the virus.

About 60 per cent of Floridians 12 and older are vaccinated, ranking it about midway among the states.

As per the Florida Hospital Association, the statewide COVID-19 hospitalisations are nearing last year's peak.

Also read | Delta COVID-19 variant can be passed on even by those vaccinated: US top health body

Also, one of the state's largest health care systems, AdventHealth's Central Florida Division, this week advised that it would no longer be conducting nonemergency surgeries to free up resources for COVID-19 patients.

Meanwhile, the US Centers for Sickness Control and Prevention (CDC) warned in an internal paper that the Delta COVID-19 variant can be passed on even by vaccinated people and may cause more serious disease than previous coronavirus strains.

The variant requires a different way to educate the public about the hazard, according to the document "Improving communications around vaccination breakthroughs and vaccine effectiveness." 

The document, titled 'Improving communications around vaccine breakthrough and vaccine effectiveness,' stated that the Delta variant necessitated a new approach to help the public understand the threat, including making it clear that unvaccinated people were more than 10 times more likely to become seriously ill or die than those who were vaccinated.