Coronavirus: US state of Florida records more than 15,000 new cases in a day, a bigger increase than most countries

If Florida were a country, it would rank fourth in the world for the most new cases in a day behind the United States, Brazil and India

Its daily increases in cases have already surpassed the highest daily tally reported by any European country during the height of the pandemic there

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Guests wear masks as required to attend the official reopening day of the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, on Saturday. Photo: AP

Published: 11:56pm, 12 Jul 2020Updated: 5:35am, 13 Jul 2020

The US state of Florida reported a record increase of more than 15,000 new cases of Covid-19 in 24 hours on Sunday, a day after Walt Disney World in Orlando reopened and anti-mask activists held a rally at a nearby restaurant.

If Florida were a country, it would rank fourth in the world for the most new cases in a day behind the United States, Brazil and India, according to a Reuters analysis.

Florida’s daily increases in cases have already surpassed the highest daily tally reported by any European country during the height of the pandemic there. Florida has also broken New York state’s record of 12,847 new cases on April 10 when it was the epicentre of the US outbreak.

Walt Disney Company welcomed a limited number of guests to its two most popular parks in Orlando on Saturday with a host of safety measures including masks and temperature checks.

A woman has her temperature taken before entering the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World. Photo: AP

Coronavirus infections are rising in about 40 states, according to a Reuters analysis of cases for the past two weeks compared with the prior two weeks. Nationally, the US has broken global records by registering about 60,000 new cases a day for the last four days in a row, according to a Reuters tally. Positive test rates are also rising in the states at the centre of the outbreak – Arizona, California, Florida and Texas.

Health officials have pleaded with the public to wear masks to limit the spread of the virus, but the issue has become politically divisive in the US unlike many other countries that have seen far lower rates of infection and death.