Health experts are concerned that Florida could be the next epicenter of the global coronavirus pandemic. As of Wednesday (June 17), the state recorded a total of 82,719 COVID-19 cases and 3,018 fatalities. The state has seen a rise in new cases, setting a new record of 2,610 daily cases between Tuesday and Wednesday.
A team of scientists from the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania is warning that the pandemic is likely to get worse in Florida. They said that their computer model indicated that the state has "all the markings of the next large epicenter of coronavirus transmission."
This worries many health experts. Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo, director of the division of infectious diseases at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, told CNN, "The potential for the virus to take off there is very, very nerve-racking and could have catastrophic consequences" because of the state's aging population and the prevalence of nursing homes and retirement communities.
Despite the rising number of new cases, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has vowed not to shut down the state. Instead, he promised to protect the elderly and those at risk of developing severe complications from the virus.
"You have to have society function, you have to be able to have a cohesive society, that's the best way to be able to deal with the impacts of the virus," DeSantis said. "But particularly when you have a virus that disproportionately impacts one segment of society, to suppress a lot of working-age people at this point, I don't think would likely be very effective."
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