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The southern United States is entering week five of its fourth wave of COVID-19, this one fueled by the highly transmissible variant Delta (B1617.2), which is spreading rapidly among unvaccinated U.S. citizens.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Friday tracked 23,903 new cases of coronavirus in Florida, the highest total in the state since the start of the pandemic, according to NPR. As of Sunday, about one in four hospital beds in the state contained a COVID-19 patient.
According to a tracker held by the Washington post, the 7-day average of new cases in Florida is up 22%. Only Mississippi and Alabama have higher jumps in daily averages, at 41% and 35%, respectively. Arkansas has seen its daily number of cases jump 21%.
The United States yesterday reported 24,234 new COVID-19 cases and 111 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins COVID-19 tracker. Overall, the 7-day averages in the United States are up 42%.
Austin area hospitals are strained
Austin, Texas, city officials on Saturday texted and emailed residents, warning, “The Covid-19 situation in Austin is dire. Health facilities are open but resources are limited in due to an increase in cases. “
According to New York Times, the city had COVID-19 patients in more than 180 intensive care unit beds on Friday, with 102 of those patients on ventilators.
At the end of last month, Texas Governor Greg Abbott banned masks or vaccines. Austin area hospital administrators said most patients are not vaccinated.
Tennessee is also reporting hospital tension, as officials in that state have warned that all pediatric hospitals will be full by the end of the week with young COVID-19 patients. Children 10 and Under Now Make Up 10% of New COVID-19 Cases in Tennessee, according to USA Today.
Over the weekend, a spokesperson for the American Hospital Association told CNN that nearly 1,500 U.S. hospitals, or about a quarter of all hospitals in the country, now require their staff to be vaccinated against the COVID-19.
The AAP calls for the use of the vaccine in children
Pediatric patients appear to be more prevalent now that a significant number of American adults are vaccinated, and the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has sent a letter to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) asking them to authorize COVID vaccines -19 for children under 12 as soon as possible.
“Put simply, the Delta variant has created a new and urgent risk for children and adolescents across the country, as it has also done for unvaccinated adults,” the letter said. “The FDA should seriously consider authorizing these vaccines for children aged 5 to 11 years based on data from the initial enlisted cohort, which is already available, while continuing to monitor the safety data of the extended cohort in the future. the post-market framework. “
Last month, the FDA asked both Pfizer and Moderna to double the size of their clinical trials in children in order to collect more vaccine safety data in this age group.
In related news, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, Randi Weingarten, told Meet the Press yesterday that the Delta variant has changed the way he thinks about vaccination mandates for teachers. The union had previously said teachers’ vaccinations should be voluntary.
Teachers were a priority immunization group for the Biden administration in early spring, and the White House estimates more than 80% of teachers nationwide are fully immunized.
The CDC COVID Data Tracker shows that 407,561,705 doses of COVID-19 vaccine were delivered to the United States and 351,400,930 were administered, with 50.1% of Americans fully vaccinated (58.7% received at least one dose).
Other developments in the United States
- Canada is today lifting its ban on Americans crossing the border for shopping, vacation or sightseeing, according to the Associated Press. U.S. citizens and permanent legal residents must be both fully vaccinated and tested negative for COVID-19 within 3 days of crossing the border.
- The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, traditionally held in the spring but moved to October this year, has been canceled due to the exponential growth of COVID-19 cases in Louisiana, according to the Washington post. The festival was also canceled in 2020.
- A federal judge granted on Sunday evening Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings’ request for an injunction that prevents Florida law prohibiting companies from requiring proof of vaccination, Politics reported. The cruise line has a ship that will leave Miami on August 15.
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