The state of Florida (USA) again broke its record of confirmed COVID-19 cases in a single day by adding about 77,000, while the omicron variant collapses hospitals and sparks a controversy over a million rapid tests of the covid expires in the middle of the rebound.
With 76,887 new cases reported by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the state has accumulated at least 4,563,163 cases since the start of the pandemic in March 2020.
These data, however, do not include the results of home tests freely distributed in public libraries and known as antigen tests.
Today’s figure surpasses the previous record of 75,732 cases reported in a single day on December 30.
While the omicron variant predominates in the “sunshine state,” hospitalizations of patients with symptoms of Covid-19 continue to increase, according to the Florida Hospital Association (FHA).
The health entity has reported 8,062 people hospitalized last Thursday, which meant an increase of more than 750 admissions compared to the previous day.
Meanwhile, in the last few hours it emerged that the Florida Government allowed nearly a million rapid tests for covid-19 to expire amid the rebound in the pandemic due to the omicron variant, which continues to break contagion records in recent weeks.
Florida Division of Emergency Management Director Kevin Guthrie acknowledged that the state allowed hundreds of thousands of rapid virus test kits to expire between Dec. 26 and Dec. 30 due to lack of demand.
State Agriculture Commissioner Nikki Fried denounced that the administration of Republican Ron DeSantis and the Florida Department of Health stored the tests despite the long lines that Florida residents have been doing these days at health posts to check if they are infected.
Fried, the only Democrat in the state cabinet and who is running for governor, had denounced for several days that the tests were in storage and were about to expire.
For his part, Florida congressman Darren Soto said on his Twitter account that this is something “quite scandalous.”
“Florida faces an increase in #omicron cases and long test lines. We are trying to secure as much evidence as possible from the federal level. Meanwhile, Governor DeSantis just let 1 MILLION # COVID19 tests expire, “wrote the Hispanic congressman representing a central Florida district.
In a press conference this Friday in the Florida city of Lake Butler (north), DeSantis, he was asked about it and replied that the kits expired due to a lack of demand in September, October and November.
“No one was requesting them. They would have been used, I think, if we had had an omicron at that time, but you don’t want a situation where you are wasting millions and millions of dollars, ”the Republican settled.