Florida reported Thursday its biggest single-day increase of COVID-19 cases since March.
The Florida Department of Health counted 1,419 new cases in one day. That adds 2 percent to the total, bringing the state's cases to over 60,000. The health department also reported 41 deaths Thursday.
The spike came just a day before most Florida counties entered a second phase of loosening coronavirus lockdowns.
COVID-19 cases in Florida could be particularly dangerous because one in every five residents is over 65, about 4.5 percentage points higher than the rest of the country.
Florida also has a relatively high rate of another high-risk category — hypertension — with over a third of its population affected as of 2017.
A public health expert reminded Politico that symptoms don't show up for a couple weeks. That means this spike can likely be attributed to Memorial Day weekend.
