Florida overtakes New York to become state with second-highest number of COVID-19 cases with 414,000 as Trump boasts he saved 'tens of thousands of lives' by banning people from 'infected China'

Florida has become the state with second-highest number of COVID-19 cases after it recorded more than 414,000 infections, surpassing New York, as President Donald Trump boasts that he saved 'tens of thousands of lives' by banning people from China earlier this year. 

The Florida Department of Health reported 12,199 new cases Saturday, bringing the state's total since March 1 to 414,511 cases. 

Florida surpassed New York State's 411,200 cases and is now trailing only California in having the nation's largest caseload.  

California has reported more than 448,000 cases and 8,429 deaths.  

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Florida has become the state with second-highest number of COVID-19 cases after it recorded more than 414,000 infections, surpassing New York, as President Donald Trump boasts that he saved 'tens of thousands of lives' by banning people from China earlier this year

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The Florida Department of Health reported 12,199 new cases Saturday, bringing the state's total to 414,511 cases. Florida surpassed New York's 411,200 cases and is now trailing only California. A healthcare worker prepares to test a passenger for the virus in Miami 

Florida also reported 126 new deaths, raising that total since the start of the pandemic to 5,894 fatalities on Saturday. By comparison, New York State has had more than 25,100 deaths.

Florida's health department has recorded 892 COVID-19 deaths over the past week, an average of 127 per day.

The number of hospitalizations on Saturday was down slightly from the day before. Health officials reported 9,035 coronavirus hospitalizations in Florida, down about 2 per cent from Friday. 

According to the COVID Tracking Project, US coronavirus deaths have topped 1,000 for the fifth day in a row. ]

The death toll reported Saturday was 1,037 and 1,019 Americans were killed by the virus on Friday. A total of 1,140 deaths were reported Thursday, 1,135 Wednesday and 1,141 Tuesday.

Rising infections in the US have been driven by outbreaks across the south and west with Arizona, California, Florida and Texas especially hard-hit.    

More than 4.1 million people have been infected with the virus and more than 146,000 people have been killed. 

Despite these numbers, Trump tweeted on Sunday that his travel ban on China is what helped save tens of thousands of lives.  

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More than 4.1 million people have been infected with the virus and more than 146,000 people have been killed. Despite these numbers, Trump tweeted on Sunday that his travel ban on China is what helped save tens of thousands of lives

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'Crazy Nancy Pelosi said I made a mistake when I banned people from infected China from entering the U.S. in January,' the president wrote

'Crazy Nancy Pelosi said I made a mistake when I banned people from infected China from entering the U.S. in January,' the president wrote. 

'Tens of thousands of lives were saved, as she danced in the Streets of Chinatown (SF) in late February. Biden agreed with her, but soon admitted that I was right!' 

Meanwhile, the nation's top infectious disease expert says that life may return to normal in 2021, as long as there is a coronavirus vaccine. 

Dr Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told CNN's David Axelrod last week that he's very hopeful about having millions of doses of an inoculation by early next year.

'The timetable you suggested of getting into 2021, well into the year, then I can think with a successful vaccine - if we could vaccinate the overwhelming majority of the population - we could start talking about real normality again,' Fauci said on Thursday.

'But it is going to be a gradual process.'

Fauci said he was promised by vaccine companies 'they would have doses to the tunes of tens of millions early in the year, and up to hundreds of millions as we get well into 2021'. 

Just a day before that statement, Fauci admitted to TB Alliance, a nonprofit that researches treatments for tuberculosis, that he doesn't see COVID-19 'disappearing the way SARS-1 did'.

'The reason I say that is it is so efficient in its ability to transmit from human to human that I think we ultimately will get control of it,' Fauci said. 'I don't really see us eradicating it.'

Fauci then listed three things that he believes will help the US get a grip on the virus. 

'I think with a combination of good public health measures, a degree of global herd immunity and a good vaccine — which I do hope and feel cautiously optimistic that we will get — I think when you put all three of those together, I think we will get very good control of this,' he said. 

As early as this week, the first possible US vaccine is set to begin final-stage testing in a study of 30,000 people to see if it really is safe and effective. 

'The vaccines are coming, and they're coming a lot sooner than anybody thought possible,' Trump said earlier this week. 

A few other vaccines have begun smaller late-stage studies in other countries, and in the US a series of huge studies are planned to start each month through fall in hopes of, eventually, having several vaccines to use. Already, people can start signing up to volunteer for the different studies.

Health authorities warn there's no guarantee - it's not unusual for vaccines to fail during this critical testing step. 

But vaccine makers and health officials are hopeful that at least one vaccine could prove to work by year's end. 

Companies already are taking the unusual step of brewing hundreds of millions of doses so that mass vaccinations could begin if the Food and Drug Administration signs off.