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The United States faces a wave of COVID-19 this summer as the most contagious delta variant spreads.
More than 617,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 and more than 4.3 million people have died worldwide, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.
According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, only 58.7% of Americans aged 12 and older are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
Latest developments
Hospitalizations among vaccinated people on the rise
The proportion of hospitalized COVID-19 cases among those vaccinated has risen sharply since the spring, coinciding with the sudden increase in the delta variant, according to internal CDC news slides reviewed by ABC News.
The discovery doesn’t mean vaccines don’t work. People are still much less likely to end up in hospital or die if they are vaccinated, health officials said.
The reality of more groundbreaking cases could also be linked to the greater number of Americans getting vaccinated. Although breakthrough cases remain relatively rare, the more the number of people vaccinated in the United States increases the chances that breakthrough cases will be counted.
According to the CDC, those vaccinated who end up being hospitalized are typically elderly, medically vulnerable, or live in long-term care facilities. They are also more likely to be asymptomatic and are hospitalized for reasons other than COVID-19.
On July 17, CDC director Rochelle Walensky estimated that 97% of hospitalizations were in unimmunized people.
-Anne Flaherty, Cheyenne Haslett, Eric Strauss and John Brownstein of ABC News
Fauci says he supports vaccination mandates for teachers
Dr Anthony Fauci backs a mask mandate for teachers, he told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Tuesday.
“We are in a critical situation here. We have had over 600,000 deaths and we are currently experiencing a large increase as fall approaches,” Fauci said. “I know people have to like having their individual freedom and not being told to do something, but I think we’re in such a dire situation now that under certain circumstances warrants should be executed.”
© Saul Loeb / AFP via Getty Images, FILE
Dr.Anthony Fauci listens to President Joe Biden speak at an event in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building in Washington, DC on February 25, 2021.
Fauci said it was only a matter of time before the FDA approved the vaccine and people shouldn’t use it as a reason to delay vaccination.
“There is no doubt that these vaccines are going to be fully approved,” he said. “You should take this as fully approved and get vaccinated.”
-Cheyenne Haslett from ABC News
Austin only 2 intensive care beds available
Only two intensive care unit beds were available for COVID-19 patients at hospitals in the Austin area on Monday evening, said Dr Desmar Walkes, Austin-Travis County health authority, according to KVUE, an affiliate. from ABC Austin.
There were 551 COVID-19 patients in area hospitals on Monday, including 91 in intensive care, KVUE reported.
In the North Texas area, there are only two pediatric intensive care beds available, Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins said, according to ABC Dallas affiliate WFAA.
Florida, Louisiana, Arkansas, Alabama nation leader in cases
Florida currently has the highest rate of COVID-19 cases in the country, followed by Louisiana, Arkansas, Alabama, Missouri, Mississippi and Texas, according to federal data.
Across the country, 90% of counties – which are home to 98% of the U.S. population – reported high community (a seven-day new case rate of 100) or substantial (a seven-day new case rate between 50 and 99). , 99) transmission last week.
© Callaghan OHare / Reuters
Floyd Talley prepares to administer a COVID-19 test at Floyd’s Family Pharmacy as cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) increase in Ponchatoula, Louisiana on August 5, 2021.
According to federal data, these states have high or substantial transmission in each county: Arizona, Arkansas, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, New Jersey, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.
-Arielle Mitropoulos from ABC News
New Americans get vaccinated at highest rate in more than 2 months
New Americans are getting vaccinated at the highest rate in more than two months, tweeted White House COVID-19 data director Cyrus Shahpar.
According to the CDC, there are currently 166,524,108 Americans aged 12 and older who are fully immunized.
Hospitalizations in the United States could quadruple by Labor Day
More than 8,300 Americans are currently admitted to hospitals every day for COVID-19.
The COVID19 Prediction Center at U Mass Amherst, used by the CDC, predicts that hospital admissions could skyrocket to 33,300 per day by September 4.
© Godofredo A. Vasquez / Houston Chronicle via AP
A construction crew is working to set up tents that hospital officials plan to use with an overflow of COVID-19 patients outside Lyndon B. Johnson Hospital on August 9, 2021, in Houston.
Even the lower end of the forecast – 9,600 hospital admissions per day – is much higher than we are now.
-Brian Hartman of ABC News
Dallas and Austin school districts to require masks
The Dallas Independent School District, the second largest in Texas, said it was temporarily requiring face masks for all students, staff and visitors starting Tuesday.
It is not known how long the mask’s tenure will last.
In the Austin Independent School District, students, staff and visitors are required to wear face masks starting Wednesday.
It comes after Texas Governor Greg Abbott banned mask warrants.
In Houston, Texas’ largest school district, the board of education will vote this week on a proposal for a mask requirement, according to ABC affiliate Dallas WFAA.
Pediatrician warns parents and governors: don’t “underestimate” the virus
Dr Richard Besser, chairman and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and former acting director of the CDC, said parents should have no choice if their children wear masks in school.
© Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
Third-grade student David Cortez wears his mask during class at Hooper Avenue School on June 23, 2021 in Los Angeles.
“Allowing it to be a matter of personal choice is fine if it only affects your child, but it doesn’t. It also affects everyone around your child,” Besser told “Good Morning America. “Tuesday.
© Yasmina Chavez / Las Vegas Sun via AP
Fifth-grade student Ella Scott watches the line of student ambassadors during the dedication ceremony and first day of school at the new Hannah Marie Brown Elementary School in Henderson, Nevada on August 9, 2021.
“There is a lot of things we don’t know about this virus,” Besser said. “I urge parents, I urge schools, I urge governors not to underestimate what we are dealing with.”
August 9, 2021
No intensive care beds available at top Mississippi hospitals: official
The Mississippi senior health official warned Monday that the state’s top hospitals are running out of intensive care beds and things will get worse.
Mississippi State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs cited the latest statistics on the growing number of COVID-19 cases, indicating that there were 6,912 new cases and 28 recorded deaths.
“Keep in mind – this will translate to around 500 new hospitalizations in the next few days, and we have ZERO intensive care beds in level 1-3 hospitals, and we have
200 patients waiting for an emergency room “, [he tweeted]().
Mississippi is currently the last among the 50 states with 49.5% of its population eligible with a vaccine dose, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Nationally, the total number of Americans eligible with a single stroke is 68.8%, according to CDC data.
Abbott seeks state health workers to help Texas
Texas Governor Greg Abbott on Monday announced several measures to curb the growing number of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in the state.
Health workers from other states will be coming to Texas to help the Texas State Department health services with their recent spate of cases, Abbott said.
The governor sent a letter to the Texas Hospital Association urging them to suspend elective surgeries.
He also announced that the health department will open more antibody fusion centers and vaccination sites for residents.
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