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What you need to know for Thursday, July 9

Epidemiologists say Florida is an epicenter of the coronavirus in the United States.

"We're the epicenter"

Two weeks ago, experts looked at Florida as the new epicenter for the coronavirus pandemic. With cases continuing to rise, the state is now one of three.  

“There’s Texas and Arizona. We are the epicenter for the Southeast. There's no question about that,” Dr. Jay Wolfson with the University of South Florida Public Health said. 

“We've sent almost 100 people out at various times to help the state and local health departments do contact tracing,” Dr. Janice Zgibor said.

The virus detectives could be what saves Florida from shutting down once again. They're finding who has the virus and tracking where they've been. The only problem, Florida may have too many cases to track.

Florida among "red zone" states being tracked by Coronavirus Task Force

The White House Coronavirus Task Force also has its eyes on Florida and three other states.

During a press conference Wednesday, Coronavirus Response Coordinator, Dr. Deborah Birx, shared that in Florida alone they are watching COVID-19 activity in 10 counties, including the large metropolitan areas of Jacksonville (Duval County) and Tampa (Hillsborough County).

States with counties in the "red zone," as Birx put it, are asked to have residents wear face masks, including Florida.

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