ORLANDO, Fla. — A day after it recorded the most new daily cases since the start of the pandemic, Florida on Sunday broke its previous record for current hospitalizations, set more than a year ago.
The Sunshine State had 10,207 people hospitalized with confirmed COVID-19 cases, according to data reported to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.
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The previous record was from July 23, 2020, more than a half-year before vaccinations started becoming widespread. Florida then had 10,170 hospitalizations, according to the Florida Hospital Association.
Florida is now leading the nation in per capita hospitalizations for COVID-19, as hospitals around the state report having to put emergency room visitors in beds in hallways and others document a noticeable drop in the age of patients.
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In the past week, Florida has averaged 1,525 adult hospitalizations a day, and 35 daily pediatric hospitalizations. Both are the highest per capita rate in the nation, according to Jason Salemi, an associate professor of epidemiology at the University of South Florida.
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Theme parks, grocery stores and other retailers have started to require employees, and in some cases guests, to wear masks again.
The state is considered a virus hot spot, with infection numbers accounting for a fifth of all new cases in the country.
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The state has recorded more than 2.5 million confirmed cases and 39,079 deaths because of the coronavirus since the start of the pandemic, according to The New York Times.
Associate Press contributed to this article.
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