Experts fear that Florida could become the next coronavirus epicenter as confirmed daily COVID-19 cases reached record-high and dire projections have been released.

As of Thursday, June 18, the Sunshine State has recorded 3,207 new daily COVID-19 cases and surpassed all previous records in the state.

While the total number of confirmed cases in Florida remains at around 86,000, experts fear that the state, or parts of it, could become the next coronavirus epicenter due to the drastic rise of new cases in the last three weeks.

As reports suggest, coronavirus cases have begun to rise shortly after the Memorial Day as restrictions began to ease up and life appeared to have started returning to normal.

Following the lift of restrictions, however, a spike in new coronavirus cases has been recorded in several areas such as Miami and Tampa.

To warn the state of where it is potentially headed, the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s PolicyLab came up with worrying forecasts that predict the rise in coronavirus cases in several locations across the Sunshine State.

As per the PolicyLab’s predictions, confirmed daily COVID-19 cases in Miami-Dade alone are set to reach over 1,600 by mid-July under current social distancing practices.

Meanwhile, daily confirmed COVID-19 cases are predicted to reach nearly 500 in Hillsborough and 500 in Palm Beach by mid-July.

“Florida has all the makings of the next large epicenter… the risk there is the worst it has ever been in our projections,” the researchers at PolicyLab expressed.

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