Florida overtakes New York to become state with the second-highest number of coronavirus cases

Florida has overtaken New York to become the state with the second-highest number of coronavirus cases in the country.

According to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University, Florida has had 414,511 confirmed cases since the pandemic started, while New York, which was once the epicenter of the outbreak, has had 411,200 cases.

Both states trail California, which has had more than 440,000 cases.

New York still has the most deaths of any state by far with more than 32,600. Florida has had nearly 5,800.

The news is particularly stark given how grave the COVID-19 outbreak had been in New York earlier this year, underscoring just how alarming Florida’s current spike in cases has become.

New York put in place stringent health restrictions earlier this year, issuing an early stay-at-home order and closing many businesses. Meanwhile, Florida reopened quickly after initially keeping the number of cases and deaths relatively low compared with other places. 

The Florida Department of Health on Saturday reported more than 12,000 new cases on Friday. The state’s surge in cases has largely been fueled by areas in South Florida, particularly Miami-Dade County.

Of all the people tested for COVID-19 in Florida on Friday, 11.43 percent received positive diagnoses.