Florida marks 100,000th coronavirus infection

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — More than 100,000 people in Florida have been diagnosed with the coronavirus, state health officials reported Monday, as public health officials reissued advisories urging social distancing and mask wearing.

Some businesses have begun reevaluating their decisions to reopen amid the spike in cases reported by the state health department on its website. More than 3,100 people in Florida have died from COVID-19.

Gov. Ron DeSantis has ordered the Health Department to reissue advisories urging Floridians to consider wearing masks to help keep the virus from spreading and to refrain from attending gatherings of more than 50 people.

Despite the rise in new infections, however, the governor has not signaled any intention of retreating from plans already underway to reopen the state. Three months of business closures have left hundreds of thousands of people out of work and disrupted the day-to-day lives of Floridians.

Starting May 4, the state gradually began allowing businesses to reopen. Currently, restaurants and bars are allowed to offer indoor seating at 50% capacity and outdoor seating with 6 feet (1.8 meters) between tables.

“Increased openings means we’ll continue to see cases increase,” said Dr. Alberto Caban-Martinez, associate professor of public health sciences at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. “It’s important to strongly encourage communities to wear masks. It’s just common sense.”

Universal and SeaWorld, both in Orlando, as well as Busch Gardens and Adventure Island in Tampa, have opened back up in recent weeks, and Walt Disney World is set to reopen next month after being closed since mid-March. Disney World on Monday reopened its Disney Deluxe Villa Resorts and Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort & Campground.

In Miami, officials have been cracking down on businesses not following rules restricting capacity and requiring the use of masks. The county conducted more than 10,000 checks and issued warnings to 45 businesses for minor violations.

Police in the city of Miami this past weekend shut down two restaurants in the city’s artsy neighborhoods of Wynwood and Design District and another one in Little Havana. County officials said the owners of businesses not complying with the rules may face a $500 fine and up to 180 days in jail.

Republican U.S. Sen. Rick Scott said Monday on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” that people should continue to be vigilant and wear masks. “We’re not out of the woods,” Scott said.

The former Florida governor disputed DeSantis’ contention over the weekend that a spike in cases in the state could be attributed to an increase in testing and positive test results from those who are asymptomatic.

“Some of it might be tied to testing, but it’s clearly not all tied to testing,” Scott said.

Mayors of some of the largest municipalities in hard-hit Miami-Dade County, gathered at a press conference Monday and also challenged the state’s interpretation of the rise in infections. They announced they will start requiring people to wear masks the moment they step out of their homes.

“This is a real spike. This is a real trajectory,” Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber said. “People can argue about the number of positives, being related to more testing, but they can’t argue with the percentage at now over 10%, which is what the CDC says tells you you have too much virus in your community.”

The mayor of Orange County, which includes Orlando, and leaders in Tampa, the Florida Keys and other areas had issued orders in the past week also requiring masks in public.

At least one resident of Orange County pushed back, filing a court challenge on Sunday that claimed the mask requirement violates his right to privacy under the Florida Constitution.

Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings said Monday that he hadn’t seen the lawsuit.

“With the numbers climbing rapidly, it’s really important that we wear masks,” he said at a news conference. “Our goal is really simple: to slow the spread of the virus in our community.”

In Orlando, 152 coronavirus cases had been linked to one bar near the University of Central Florida campus, Dr. Raul Pino, a health officer in Orlando with the Florida Department of Health, said Monday.

“A lot of transmission happened there,” Pino said. “People are very close. People are not wearing masks. People are drinking, shouting, dancing, sweating, kissing and hugging — all the things that happen in bars. And all those things that happen are not good for COVID-19.”

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Schneider reported from Orlando. Associated Press reporter Adriana Gomez Licon in Miami contributed to this report.

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Follow AP coverage of the pandemic at https://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak.