Florida health officials reported Sunday a staggering record of new cases in a single day: 15,300. If Florida were a country, it would be the fourth highest in the world in reporting new cases. The state would rank 10th in the list of nations with the most cases, according to data from Johns Hopkins University data.
The state added at least 12,343 cases since Sunday, according to the Florida Department of Health.
At least 35 states are seeing a rise in new cases compared to the previous week, according to Johns Hopkins University data.
The US has recorded more than 3.3 million coronavirus cases since the pandemic began, meaning nearly 1 out of every 100 Americans has tested positive for Covid-19, according to Johns Hopkins University. At least 135,379 Americans have died.
Across the world, 12.9 million people have tested positive for the virus.
Both local and state leaders in the US have said in recent weeks new cases are largely driven by Americans who have opted to resume gatherings and outings to bars. In many states, the average age of new cases has shifted downward, with more young people testing positive than ever before since the start of the pandemic.
The rising US numbers could just be the tip of the iceberg, as experts have often highlighted infections could be around 10 times higher than what is reported, as many go untraced.
To blunt the rise in case, at least 36 states now have some type of mask requirement order in place, and more than half of US states have paused or rolled back their reopening plans in efforts to contain the spread of the virus.
But precautions have been met with heavy backlash from many officials and residents and some governors have stayed away from statewide mask orders, including Florida.
People need to 'follow the rules'
Miami Mayor Francis Suarez said on CNN's "New Day" on Monday that the numbers are "out of control."
Americans need to follow the rules on social distancing and wearing masks, which are required for citizens in public in the city of Miami, the mayor said.
"If they don't follow the rules, things are going to continue the way they are going," he said.
In Atlanta, where the mayor attempted to require citizens to wear masks and revert the city back to its first phase of reopening to combat a rise in cases, Gov. Brian Kemp slammed the decision saying it was "both non-binding and legally unenforceable."
Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms said on CNN that Kemp had not criticized other cities in Georgia for issuing mask mandates.
"I think that it's unfortunate that when we know the science says wearing a mask is one of the easiest ways to stop the spread, that we had the leader to our state taking exception with it," she said.
Miami's Suarez said officials need to have a consistent message at the local, state and national levels.
"A lot of the decisions have been pushed down to local officials that probably should have been done at the federal and state levels," he said.
