Two hard-hit states in the U.S. have seen dramatic spikes in new COVID-19 infections over the past two weeks but Florida's confirmed new cases on Monday shrank significantly.
Florida New Cases Plummet after Last Week's Spike
On Monday, the local health department of Florida reported 6,336 new confirmed coronavirus cases, marking a significant decline in new infections for the first time since June 30.
Compared with Saturday's 11,458 confirmed cases, Monday's new infections showed the big difference in numbers when testing capacity drops. Fewer people were tested during the weekend due to July 4th celebrations.
But experts noted that the numbers are still high and once COVID-19 testing ramps up again in Florida, the daily new infections toll could spike again.
Furthermore, while the rise in new infections across the state could be due to increased testing, health experts pointed out that the spike is also proof that the virus is spreading since the rate of positives has also increased over the past several weeks.
Elusive Partygoers Hamper Contact Tracing Efforts
Florida had been the center of many parties before the coronavirus outbreak in the United States. While local health officials have been hard at work in tracing potential asymptomatic cases, elusive partygoers are making the task more difficult.
In the neighborhood of Belle Meade Island, neighbors revealed that they recently saw crowds of partygoers not wearing masks. Parties went from late night until sunrise and health experts said these crowd-gathering events helped push Florida's COVID-19 numbers up.
Unlike South Korean provinces and cities, Florida and other American states do not report the number of clusters in the area or how many infected patients are linked to clusters.
On the other hand, neighbors around Belle Meade Island fear that partygoers coming in and out of nightly gatherings may play a role in prompting new COVID-19 clusters in the state.
Military Medical Personnel Assist in Texas' COVID-19 Crisis
In Texas, cases are still rising every day and the Federal Emergency Management Agency requested for the United States Military to send in medical personnel for assistance.
The U.S. military confirmed on Monday evening that it will send approximately 50 medical and support military to assist around the San Antonio area in efforts of easing civilian health providers from potential overwhelming new cases.
A statement from the U.S. military said that the medical personnel for Texas will include critical care nurses, emergency room staff, support teams, and respiratory specialists.
The move came in preparation for additional coronavirus infections in the state that could lead to overwhelmed hospitals and health providers. It remains to be seen whether the same deployment will also be recommended in the coming weeks for Florida.
As of Monday evening, the U.S. has logged a total of 3,040,833 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 132,979 deaths.
