Florida will be 'like a house on fire' in weeks with loose coronavirus restrictions, infectious disease expert says

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Sat, 2020-10-10 14:54 — mike kraft

Florida will be 'like a house on fire' in weeks with loose coronavirus restrictions, infectious disease expert says As health officials in Florida reported nearly 3,000 new cases of coronavirus on Friday, the state is bracing to become "like a house on fire," an infectious disease expert says. Christina Maxouris and Nicole Chavez, CNN CNN

(CNN) As health officials in Florida reported nearly 3,000 new cases of coronavirus on Friday, the state is bracing to become "like a house on fire," an infectious disease expert says.

"Florida is ripe for another large outbreak," said Mike Osterholm, director of the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy at the University of Minnesota.

"What they've done is opened up everything as if nothing had ever happened there and you and I could be talking probably in eight to 10 weeks, and I will likely bet that Florida will be a house on fire," Osterholm told CNN's Jake Tapper.

Health officials in Florida reported 2,908 new cases of Covid-19 and 118 deaths on Friday, according to data from the Florida Department of Health. The agency has reported at least 2,200 new cases daily for four consecutive days.

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed an executive order last month allowing bars and restaurants to reopen to full capacity. In Miami, where in-person instruction resumed on Monday, three students and an employee have tested positive for the virus, according to Miami-Dade Public Schools.

"Unfortunately, despite loudly voicing our concerns about a premature reopening of schools, we now find ourselves in complete fear and misery after only four days," Karla Hernandez-Mats, president of the district's teachers union, wrote in a statement on Thursday. ...

The latest US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ensemble forecast says US Covid-19 deaths could reach 233,000 by the end of this month.

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