Governor Ron DeSantis signed an executive order on Friday, September 25th allowing restaurants and other establishments to work at a full capacity, along with eliminating fines for the refusal to wear a mask. In response, the state of Florida reported a visible spike in new coronavirus cases.

3,266 new coronavirus cases were reported by Florida’s health department on Tuesday, September 28th, which greatly differed from the previous jump on Monday, in which 738 cases were reported. According to state reports, 263 total deaths have been confirmed over this week, as of Friday, October 2nd.

During the summer, Florida had COVID-19 cases rising by the hour, but slowly saw a decline around August.  When the restrictions lifted, new infection rate rose to a high, bringing the total COVID cases to 704,568 in the state.

According to Johns Hopkins, the rate of new positive tests is a 10.7% increase from the previous week. DeSantis’ decision was “really asking for trouble,” said Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease official. In a July poll,  49 percent of Florida voters were disappointed with DeSantis’ handling of the pandemic.