MIAMI (CBSMiami) – More cities and states across the country are reporting increasing rates of coronavirus including Florida, which just set a new record high number of cases in a single day.

On Thursday, Florida had 1,902 new COVID-19 infections, according to the state Department of Health, which is almost 30 percent higher than the previous daily high of 1,419 cases on June 4.

Gov. Ron DeSantis has said rising case numbers are due to increased testing capacity.

Dr. Aileen Marty, an infectious disease expert at Florida International University in Miami said a "small part" of the increase was testing, "but it truly is a real increase in cases."

That rise could be exacerbated by people not wearing masks or social distancing, Marty said, and by the use of tear gas at recent protests following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis.

"The use of these gases is very serious ... because it damages the airways," Marty said. "It damages the exact airways that our bodies need to fend off this virus."

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Months into the pandemic, there are nearly 71,000 cases in Florida and 2,877 people have died in the state as of Friday, June 12.

Florida has completed more than 1.3 million tests, with 5.3%  coming back positive.  It's higher in Miami-Dade where 9.4% of the tests have been positive and it is 6.3% in Broward.

Much of the state started slowly reopening on May 4 with safety measures in place.