"The numbers of cases in our hospitals in children and our children's hospitals are completely overwhelmed," Marty told CNN's Jim Sciutto on Friday evening.
"Our pediatricians, the nursing, the staff are exhausted, and the children are suffering. And it is absolutely devastating ... our children are very much affected. We've never seen numbers like this before," she said.
But officials on the state and local levels have not streamlined their back-to-school mask wearing strategy, prompting local districts to create their own rules.
In Texas, the Houston Independent School District's superintendent said he would move to mandate masks upon students' return on August 23, despite GOP Gov. Greg Abbott's executive order prohibiting school districts and other local officials from requiring mask wearing.
"We have not seen kids pile into pediatric ICUs across the South like we're seeing right now," Dr. Peter Hotez, dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, told CNN on Friday.
On Friday, Florida's Orange County Public Schools said it would require students to wear masks -- except pupils whose parents opt them out with a signed note. Employees, visitors, volunteers and parents also will be required to wear masks, the district said.
Hillsborough County Public Schools will "require face coverings" for the start of the school year but parents will be able to opt their children out of the requirement, according to a Saturday statement from Superintendent Addison Davis.
"While the outcome may be the same whether we make face coverings optional or required with an opt-out, we believe this decision continues to illustrate that Hillsborough County Public Schools takes public safety seriously," Davis said.
Masks are optional for employees, Davis said.
Returning to schools safely is possible if mitigation efforts, including wearing masks, are implemented, said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, who heads the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"The places where you see kids in the hospital, the places where you see footage of kids in the hospital, are all places that are not taking mitigation strategies to keep our children safe," Walensky said Friday.
The CDC recommends that everyone -- students, teachers, staff and visitors -- wear masks in schools.
US averages 100,000+ daily cases for first time since February
The US averaged more than 107,140 new daily cases over a week as of Friday -- the first time that average was higher than 100,000 since February, according to Johns Hopkins University data.
The figure has generally risen since the country hit a 2021 low average of 11,299 daily on June 22, according to Johns Hopkins.
Hospitalizations and deaths have been rising, too.
More than 63,250 Covid-19 patients were in US hospitals on Friday -- a number that has generally risen since a 2021 low of 16,152 on June 29, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.
About 497 Covid-19 deaths per day have been in the US in the past week -- well below the country's pandemic peak of more than 3,400 daily in mid-January, but still a 40% increase over the average a week ago, according to Johns Hopkins.
Boosters for people with a weaker immune system could be on the horizon
People with compromised immune systems could soon hear about a plan to give them a booster shot.
A decision from the US Food and Drug Administration could come before early September, a Biden administration official told CNN.
The Washington Post reported Friday that in the next week or two, FDA officials are expected to review data on additional vaccine doses for immunocompromised people from the CDC. If the data checks out, the FDA will amend the emergency use authorizations of at least two Covid-19 vaccines to allow the additional doses, The New York Times reported.
The move could affect millions of people who may not have had an adequate response to the vaccine.
That includes people taking drugs that suppress immune systems; some organ transplant patients; and those with certain medical conditions. Research published in JAMA Network Open estimates that 6 million people in the US are taking immunosuppressants that could interfere with the vaccine -- a number the researchers say is likely an underestimate.
Hospitals are strained amid Delta surge
As cases rise, hospitals and staff are facing dire situations.
In Louisiana, more than 2,300 people were in hospitals with Covid-19 on Friday -- the highest number since the US Department of Health of Human Services began collecting the data in July 2020.
"And I can tell you the indications are, we will go up by more than 100 more for tomorrow's report," Gov. John Bel Edwards said Friday.
More than more than 6,000 children have tested positive over the last week, Edwards said.
"So in light of that, and the CDC recommendations, the recommendations of the American Academy of Pediatrics, the information that we've received here from the Office of Public Health and leading Louisiana pediatricians, and quite frankly, as a parent myself, I have to ask -- why wouldn't we send our kids to school with a mask on?" Edwards said.
Edwards said he has hope, because 300% more people are receiving their first shot in the last month.
And in Tennessee, Republican Gov. Bill Lee issued an executive order that allows hospitals to hire out-of-state health care providers, and to permit retired medical professionals easily back to work. His order also increased bed capacity for Covid-19 patients.
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly described the capacity at Nicklaus Children's Hospital in Miami. The hospital, a 309-bed pediatric specialty hospital, had a total of 214 admissions on Saturday. Of those, 18 were Covid-19 positive and five were in intensive care units.
CNN's John Couwels, Rosa Flores, Jason Hanna, Virginia Langmaid, Lauren Mascarenhas, Christina Maxouris, Rebekah Riess, Elizabeth Stuart and Ray Sanchez contributed to this report.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) The Ohio Department of Health has releasedthe latest number of COVID-19 casesin the state.
As of Sunday, August 8, a total of 1,142,330 (+1,413) cases has been reported since the start of the pandemic, leading to 62,520 (+19) hospitalizations and 8,529 (+2) ICU admissions. A total of 5,845,986 people or 50.01% of the states population has at least started the vaccination process.
ODH reported 26 deaths Friday, bringing the total to 20,556. The state is updating the total number of deaths only after death certificates have been processed, usually twice a week.
During a news conference Friday, Gov. Mike DeWine said Ohio is currently split between the vaccinated and the unvaccinated, and he encouraged all Ohioans to get on board with the CDCs recommendation to protect themselves against COVID-19.
The most effective tool we have today is the vaccine, DeWine said. People who are not vaccinated are not safe. I want to make sure everyone has the facts.
As the more contagious delta variant of COVID-19 sweeps through Ohio,datashows younger people are making up a larger share of cases because their age groups are the states least vaccinated.
Former Pittsburgh Steelers star safety Troy Polamalu has recovered from a bout with COVID-19 and will attend the Pro Football Hall of Fame inductions.
Polamalu, a member of the class of 2020, has been at home since late last month and his status for the enshrinement ceremony had been in doubt. But he was cleared medically to travel to Canton and he took part in the Hall of Fame parade in the morning. He missed the Gold Jacket Dinner on Friday night when other members of the classes of 2020 and 2021 received their hall jackets.
A four-time All-Pro who twice won Super Bowls, Polamalu had to wait an extra year to be inducted because of the pandemic.
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) The COVID-19 outbreak in the United States crossed 100,000 new confirmed daily infections Saturday, a milestone last exceeded during the winter surge and driven by the highly transmissible delta variant and low vaccination rates in the South.
Health officials fear that cases, hospitalizations and deaths will continue to soar if more Americans dont embrace the vaccine. Nationwide, 50% of residents are fully vaccinated and more than 70% of adults have received at least one dose.
Our models show that if we dont (vaccinate people), we could be up to several hundred thousand cases a day, similar to our surge in early January, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Rochelle Walensky said on CNN this week.
It took the U.S. about nine months to cross 100,000 average daily cases in November before peaking at about 250,000 in early January. Cases bottomed out in June, averaging about 11,000 per day, but six weeks later the number is 107,143.
Hospitalizations and deaths are also increasing, though all are still below peaks seen early this year before vaccines became widely available. More than 44,000 Americans are currently hospitalized with COVID-19, according to the CDC, up 30% in a week and nearly four times the number in June. More than 120,000 were hospitalized in January.
The seven-day average for deaths rose from about 270 deaths per day two weeks ago to nearly 500 a day as of Friday, according to Johns Hopkins University. Deaths peaked at 3,500 per day in January. Deaths usually lag behind hospitalizations as the disease normally takes a few weeks to kill.
The situation is particularly dire in the South, which has some of the lowest vaccination rates in the U.S. and has seen smaller hospitals overrun with patients.
In the Southeast, the number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients jumped 50% to a daily average of 17,600 over the last week from 11,600 the previous week, the CDC says. Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Kentucky represent 41% of the nations new hospitalizations, the CDC says, twice their overall share of the population.
Alabama and Mississippi have the lowest vaccination rates in the country: less than 35% of residents are fully inoculated, according to the Mayo Clinic. Georgia, Tennessee and the Carolinas are all in the lowest 15 states.
Alabama saw more than 65,000 doses wasted because health providers couldnt find people to take them before they expired, according to State Health Officer Scott Harris. That represents less than 1.5% of the more than 5 million coronavirus vaccines doses that Alabama has received.
Sixty-five thousand doses have been wasted. Thats extremely unfortunate when we have such a low vaccination rate and of course, there are so many people in the world that still dont have access to vaccine, Harris said.
Florida has been especially hard hit. It makes up more than 20% of the nations new cases and hospitalizations, triple its share of the population. Many rural counties have vaccination rates below 40%, with the state at 49%. The state again set a record Saturday, reporting 23,903 new cases.
Gov. Ron DeSantis, while encouraging vaccinations, has taken a hard line against mask rules and other restrictions. Running for reelection next year and eyeing a 2024 Republican presidential bid, he and President Joe Biden have verbally sparred in recent days. DeSantis has accused the Democratic president of overreach, while Biden has said DeSantis should get out of the way of local officials if he doesnt want to fight the outbreak.
Some people have been scared off from the vaccine by bogus warnings on social media and from some non-medical media personalities.
Miami-area real estate agent Yoiris Duran, 56, said her family was swayed by the misinformation, although doctors and public health officials have almost universally encouraged people to get vaccinated. After she, her husband and 25-year-old son got seriously ill with COVID-19 and were hospitalized, shes now encouraging friends and family to get vaccinated.
I dont want people to go through what we have gone through, she said in a video interview with Baptist Health Systems.
In some parts of the U.S., hospitals are scrambling to find beds for patients.
Dr. Leonardo Alonso, who works in several emergency rooms in Jacksonville, one of Floridas hardest-hit areas, said some hospitals are sending some COVID-19 patients home with oxygen and a monitor to free beds for sicker people.
The ICUs, the hospitals are all on a near what we call mass casualty incident. Theyre almost at protocols where theyre overflowing, Alonso said.
In Texas, Houston officials said some patients were transferred out of the city one as far as North Dakota.
Dr. David Persse, Houstons chief medical officer, said some ambulances were waiting hours to offload patients because no beds were available. Persse said he feared this would lead to prolonged response times to 911 medical calls.
The health care system right now is nearly at a breaking point. ... For the next three weeks or so, I see no relief on whats happening in emergency departments, Persse said Thursday.
Find an updated count of COVID-19 cases in California and by county on our tracker here.
More than three quarters of counties in the U.S. are experiencing substantial or high COVID-19 transmissions
The U.S. is now averaging 100,000 COVID-19 new cases per day
California first in nation to require health care workers to be vaccinated
What Japans COVID-19 emergency means
COVID-19 By The Numbers
12:38 p.m.: More than three quarters of counties in the U.S. are experiencing substantial or high COVID-19 transmissions
More than three quarters of U.S. counties are experiencing substantial or high COVID-19 transmissions as of early August.
The CDC classifies a community as having "substantial transmission" if there are 50 to 99 weekly cases per 100,000 residentsor if the positivity rate is between 8.0 and 9.9% in the last seven days.
People in a community that falls under that classification should wear masks indoors, whether or not they are vaccinated.
Read more here.
12:05 p.m.: The U.S. is now averaging 100,000 COVID-19 new cases per day
The U.S. has returned to a milestone seen last winteraveraging 100,000 new COVID-19 infections per day.
In late June, the U.S. was averaging about 11,000 cases a day. The number is now 107,143.
The seven-day average for daily new deaths also increased, according to data from Johns Hopkins University, rising over the past two weeks from about 270 deaths per day to nearly 500 a day as of Friday.Read more here.
10:25 a.m.: California first in nation to require health care workers to be vaccinated
California is mandating that all health workers get vaccinated against COVID-19 by the end of September. State health officials say they're the first in the nation to require vaccination in these settings without an alternative.
Last week, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced that health care workers could either get their COVID-19 shots or face being tested weekly.
Health officials say they're taking more robust measures to protect the state's most vulnerable from the highly contagious delta variant.
"Because Californians should be confident that their health care providers are taking all steps to protect patient and overall community health," said California Secretary of Health and Human Services Director Mark Ghaly. "And in the face of surging COVID cases, steps like these are how California preserves one of our most precious gifts: health care workers who take care of us when we're sick."
Industry leaders are concerned the mandate will push people out of the health field.
Debora Pacyna is part of the California Association of Health Facilities trade group. They represent nursing homes and centers for people with disabilities and mental illness.
"Our workforce shortage is critical," Pacyna said. "A lot of people may decide they're just going to quit their jobs, and that will then trigger into a problem of access to services in skilled nursing."
The order applies to anyone in a health care setting, not just those who interact with patients that includes people in food service, facilities management, or billing. There are exceptions for people requesting to skip vaccination for medical or religious reasons.
9:34 a.m.: What Japans COVID-19 emergency means
Japan is host to the Tokyo Olympics, but the capital and other highly populated areas are in the middle of a government-declared state of emergency to curb surging COVID-19 infections.
According to the Associated Press, Tokyo has been in that state much of this year. People are getting resigned to it, no longer alarmed by a situation thats critically urgent, which is what the Japanese term translates into. Many are resigned and accepting it as the new normal.
The streets are bustling with people, commuter trains are jampacked, and restaurants and bars are open. However, theyve been asked to close early and cant serve alcohol. Restaurant owners say thats unfairly targeting eateries.
9:02 a.m.: Pacific Islanders in Sacramento have highest vaccination rate, but high COVID-19 cases
While Pacific Islanders make up about 2% of Sacramentos population, they also have some of the highest COVID-19 rates.
Despite being disproportionately impacted by the virus, Pacific Islanders have had one of the highest rates of vaccination in the country. The county classifies the Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander category as people having origins in Hawaii, Guam, Samoa, or other Pacific Islands.
So far, 66% of the people in those communities are at least partially vaccinated against COVID-19. However, Jimina Afuloa with EPIC, a Pacific-Islander advocacy organization, says the countys numbers dont reflect what theyve been seeing.
Were still facing a lot of folks who are still vaccine-hesitant, anti-vaxxers, Afuola said. Weve still been dealing with a lot of the disparities within our own community and trying to work through that kind of barrier.
Afuolas organization continues to do outreach, but she worries the countys numbers could give people a false sense of safety.
9:31 a.m.: Sacramento Kings to require COVID-19 vaccine for employees
The Sacramento Kings recently released a statement from Owner and Chairman Vivek Ranadiv stating that full-time and part-time employees will be required to be vaccinated by Nov. 1 to continue their employment.
But according to the Sacramento Bee, that won't include players, who are part of the National Basketball Players Association union.
Tragically, this pandemic is not over, and with the rising number of cases, we have made the decision to require all Sacramento Kings team members to be vaccinated against COVID-19 as a condition of employment, Ranadiv said. Health and safety are our utmost priority, and vaccines are the best tool available to protect one another and eradicate this virus.
9:24 a.m.: Can I get long covid if I get infected after being vaccinated? Maybe, but more research is needed.
Researchers are studying the chances of long COVID developing in anyone who might get infected after vaccination, according to the Associated Press.
COVID-19 vaccines are effective at preventing severe illness from the virus, but its still possible to get infected after the shots. Such breakthrough cases are more likely to come with mild or no symptoms.
However, researchers are looking at whether the cases could lead to long COVID-19, which is when people have symptoms a month or more after infection. Some long-term symptoms reflect damage to organs from severe infections. But, experts noted that long COVID-19 could also develop after infections with mild or no symptoms.
9:13 a.m.: Tokyo records over 5,000 COVID-19 cases during Olympic Games
Tokyo has reported 5,042 new coronavirus cases, its most since the pandemic began as infections surge in the Japanese capital hosting the Olympics.
According to the Associated Press, Tokyo has been under a state of emergency since mid-July, and four other areas of the country have since been added.
But the measures, basically shorter opening hours and a ban on alcohol for restaurants and bars, are increasingly ignored by the public, which has become tired of restrictions. Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga, who has been criticized for insisting on hosting the Olympics despite the coronavirus surge, says theres no evidence linking the increase to the games.
10:31 a.m.: CDC extends eviction moratorium to Oct. 3
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued a new moratorium on evictions that would last until Oct. 3, according to the Associated Press.
The Biden administration is trying to quell intensifying criticism that it was allowing vulnerable renters to lose their homes during a pandemic. The new moratorium could help keep millions in their homes as the coronavirus delta variant has spread.
States have been slow to release federal rental aid previously. The new move would temporarily halt evictions in counties with substantial and high levels of virus transmission and would cover areas where 90% of the U.S. population lives. See a map of those areas here.
10:18 a.m.: SF to administer extra COVID-19 shots to some vaccinated residents
San Francisco is providing an extra dose of the COVID-19 vaccine for people who got the single-shot Johnson & Johnson variety, but public health officials arent calling it a booster.
According to the Associated Press, the Department of Public Health on Tuesday said people who request it can receive a supplemental dose at city-run clinics. The second shot will be a vaccine produced by either Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna.
Authorities say theyve been getting a lot of requests for a second shot. The health agency says its offering a supplement, not a booster shot, that may be geared to a specific COVID-19 variant, such as the delta mutation thats blamed for a large uptick in infections.
10:08 a.m.: WHO leader wants booster shot moratorium
The head of the World Health Organization is calling for a moratorium on administering booster shots of COVID-19 vaccines as a way to help ensure that doses are available in countries where few people have even gotten any of their coronavirus shots.
According to the Associated Press, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus appealed on Wednesday most to wealthier countries that have far outpaced the developing world in numbers of vaccinations. WHO officials say the science is unproven about whether giving booster shots to people who have already received two vaccine doses is effective in preventing the spread of the coronavirus.
WHO has repeatedly called for rich countries to do more to help improve access to vaccines in the developing world.
5:50 p.m.: Run to Feed the Hungry returns after being held virtually last year
A Sacramento Thanksgiving tradition is set to return this year. Organizers say Run to Feed the Hungry is coming back after being held virtually last year because of COVID restrictions.
The race's return wasn't officially declared until today, but somehow word leaked out to eager runners.
"We actually launched registration at midnight and people are already registering before we even announced it this morning," said Melanie Flood with Sacramento Food Bank and Family Services.
The nonprofit puts the race on as a fundraiser generating nearly a million dollars. Thousands of people participate, running and walking in either a 5K or 10K through the streets of East Sacramento.
Flood says the decision to bring the run back aligns with CDC guidelines.
"In the worst case scenario, if we had to cancel the race and we weren't allowed to have an event such as this, we would still hold it virtually like we did last year, she said.
Registration will stay open through race day - November 25th.
10:15 a.m.: Fauci says not enough Americans vaccinated to 'crush the outbreak'
The nations top infectious disease expert is warning that more pain and suffering is ahead as COVID-19 cases climb again and officials plead with unvaccinated Americans to get inoculated, according to the Associated Press.
Dr. Anthony Fauci also said on ABCs This Week that he doesnt foresee additional U.S. lockdowns because he believes enough people are vaccinated to avoid a recurrence of last winter.
However, he said theres not nearly enough people who are inoculated to crush the outbreak. Currently, 58% of Americans 12 years and older are fully vaccinated.
The silver lining is that U.S. vaccinations are up 56% in the last two weeks, according to the National Institutes of Health Dr. Francis Collins said recently on CNN.
10:05 a.m.: What to know about the delta variant
The delta variant is more contagious than its predecessors, but research has shown that COVID-19 vaccines still provide strong protection against it.
According to the Associated Press, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention cited the variant's surge in advising that vaccinated people return to wearing masks indoors in areas with high transmission.
The change is based on new research suggesting vaccinated people who get infected can spread it to others, even if the vaccinated don't get seriously ill. The more vaccinated people there are, the more it helps protect the unvaccinated, including children not yet eligible for the shots.
Some breakthrough cases were always expected, and a Kaiser Family Foundation analysis found such cases remain rare.
9:35 a.m.: More than 110 million COVID-19 vaccines sent abroad to over 60 countries
The White House says the U.S. has donated and shipped more than 110 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to more than 60 countries, ranging from Afghanistan to Zambia.
According to the Associated Press, Biden has promised the U.S. will be the arsenal of vaccines for the world. The 110 million doses given largely through a vaccine program known as COVAX represents a fraction of whats really needed globally.
The White House says the U.S. will begin shipping at the half a billion Pfizer doses its pledged to 100 low-income countries in August. President Joe Biden was expected later Tuesday to discuss the U.S. strategy for slowing the spread of coronavirus abroad.
5:11 p.m.: Bay Area health officials reinstate indoor mask mandate
Health officials in San Francisco and six other Bay Area counties have announced that they are reinstating a mask mandate for all indoor settings as COVID-19 infections surge. Monday's order applies to everyone, regardless of vaccination status, and starts on Tuesday.
California last week recommended that people wear masks indoors, but stopped short of issuing a mandate, following guidance from the U.S Centers for Disease Control.
Three other California counties have already adopted mandates as COVID rates rise because of the highly contagious delta variant.
11:04 a.m.: While vaccinated people can contract delta COVID-19 variant, vaccines still best defense
The delta variant has changed Californias COVID-19 landscape in a big way. New research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that even fully immunized people can contract the virus and even pass it to others.
Still, vaccines are seen as the best chance at reducing viral transmission. Getting immunized does protect you from getting very ill or dying from COVID-19. The vaccine also mostly prevents symptomatic cases from the original alpha variant, though, its slightly different with the delta variant.
There definitely can be transmission from symptomatic breakthroughs, said UCSF infectious disease specialist Dr. Monica Gandhi. She explains that the delta variant can do this because its much more contagious and can transmit higher quantities of the virus, even to fully vaccinated people.
The trick is we need to get transmission down, Gandhi said. We need to get more people vaccinated so that theres not even a virus around for all of us to see to get mild breakthroughs. And thats really what were doing right now with resuming masking inside, and also importantly, getting our vaccination rates as high as we can.
Several California counties are requiring everyone to wear a mask in indoor public settings, though state and federal officials say its only recommended, not required, for fully immunized people.
However, Gandhi says strong mask policies are needed to combat this variant. She also stresses that people should refrain from gathering indoors and unmasked with friends who arent vaccinated.
We are acting like vaccines arent working, and thats what people seem to be hearing. These vaccines are working, Gandhi said. They are profoundly effective at preventing severe disease and death.
While many counties are seeing increases in hospitalizations, its far from the surge that California saw during the winter. Gandhi said public health departments will have to work hard to explain that more vaccinated people means theres less virus in circulation, leading to fewer deaths among those who cant get their shots.
10:06 a.m.: Evictions expected to spike due to national eviction moratorium ending
Housing courts around the country are ramping up work following the end of the federal eviction moratorium, according to the Associated Press.
Housing advocates fear that the recent end of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention moratorium will result in millions of people being evicted. Most expect the wave of evictions to build slowly over the coming weeks and months as the bureaucracy of removing people from their homes restarts Monday.
The Biden administration announced Thursday it would allow a nationwide ban to expire. It argued that its hands were tied after the Supreme Court signaled the measure needed to come to an end.
California has its own eviction moratorium that is in place through the end of September.
9:43 a.m.: US employers ramp up vaccination pressure on white-collar employees
Passengers wait in a long line to get a COVID-19 test to travel overseas at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on Friday in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Recent flight cancelations caused many passengers to redo their tests while others were unable to get the test locally due to long lines caused by the surge of the delta variant. Marta Lavandier/AP hide caption
Passengers wait in a long line to get a COVID-19 test to travel overseas at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport on Friday in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Recent flight cancelations caused many passengers to redo their tests while others were unable to get the test locally due to long lines caused by the surge of the delta variant.
The U.S. is now averaging 100,000 new COVID-19 infections a day, returning to a milestone last seen during the winter surge in yet another bleak reminder of how quickly the delta variant has spread through the country.
The U.S. was averaging about 11,000 cases a day in late June. Now the number is 107,143.
It took the U.S. about nine months to cross the 100,000 average case number in November before peaking at about 250,000 in early January. Cases bottomed out in June but took about six weeks to go back above 100,000, despite a vaccine that has been given to more than 70% of the adult population.
The seven-day average for daily new deaths also increased, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. It rose over the past two weeks from about 270 deaths per day to nearly 500 a day as of Friday.
The virus is spreading quickly through unvaccinated populations, especially in the South where hospitals have been overrun with patients.
Health officials are fearful that cases will continue to soar if more Americans don't embrace the vaccine.
"Our models show that if we don't (vaccinate people), we could be up to several hundred thousand cases a day, similar to our surge in early January," Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Rochelle Walensky said on CNN this week.
The number of Americans hospitalized with the virus has also skyrocketed and it has gotten so bad that many hospitals are scrambling to find beds for patients in far-off locations.
Houston officials say the latest wave of COVID-19 cases is pushing the local health care system to nearly "a breaking point," resulting in some patients having to be transferred out of the city to get medical care, including one who had to be taken to North Dakota.
Dr. David Persse, who is health authority for the Houston Health Department and EMS medical director, said some ambulances were waiting hours to offload patients at Houston area hospitals because no beds were available. Persse said he feared this would lead to prolonged respond times to 911 medical calls.
"The health care system right now is nearly at a breaking point. ... For the next three weeks or so, I see no relief on what's happening in emergency departments," Persse said Thursday.
Last weekend, a patient in Houston had to be transferred to North Dakota to get medical care. An 11-month-old girl with COVID-19 and who was having seizures had to be transported on Thursday from Houston to a hospital 170 miles (274 kilometers) away in Temple.
In Missouri, 30 ambulances and more than 60 medical personnel will be stationed across the state to help transport COVID-19 patients to other regions if nearby hospitals are too full to admit them, Missouri Gov. Mike Parson announced Friday.
Confirmed cases of COVID-19 have passed 202.7 million globally, according to Johns Hopkins University. The number of confirmed deaths stands at more than 4.29 million. More than 4.43 billion vaccination doses have been administered globally, according to Our World in Data.
South Korea has opened COVID-19 vaccine reservations for all adults over 18 years old.
Most people who have a third 'booster' shot of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine experience similar or fewer side effects than after their second dose, according to initial results of an Israeli study.
Tunisia vaccinated more than half a million people yesterday after the country received more than 6 million vaccine doses.
Malaysia is set to ease some COVID-19 restrictions for fully vaccinated people in eight states, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said yesterday.
The Philippines has recorded its biggest daily increase in COVID-19 deaths 287 since 9 April.
Viet Nam has reported a record daily rise in confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 9,690 new infections.
A study from Sweden suggests that COVID-19 increases patients' risk of heart attack and stroke.
Daily new confirmed COVID-19 cases per million people in selected countries.
Image: Our World in Data
Scientists at Public Health England (PHE) said on Friday that there are early signs that people who have been vaccinated against COVID-19 are able to transmit the Delta variant as easily as those who haven't.
"Some initial findings ... indicate that levels of virus in those who become infected with Delta having already been vaccinated may be similar to levels found in unvaccinated people," PHE said in a statement.
"This may have implications for people's infectiousness, whether they have been vaccinated or not. However, this is early exploratory analysis and further targeted studies are needed to confirm whether this is the case."
The findings echo those from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which warned last week about the infectiousness of vaccinated people with the Delta variant.
Each of our Top 50 social enterprise last mile responders and multi-stakeholder initiatives is working across four priority areas of need: Prevention and protection; COVID-19 treatment and relief; inclusive vaccine access; and securing livelihoods. The list was curated jointly with regional hosts Catalyst 2030s NASE and Aavishkaar Group. Their profiles can be found on www.wef.ch/lastmiletop50india.
Top Last Mile Partnership Initiatives to collaborate with:
3. New South Wales, Australia, expands lockdown
The Australian state of New South Wales has expanded its COVID-19 lockdown to include the rural town of Tamworth. The move comes after people known to have COVID-19 travelled there from Sydney without authorization.
"As a precaution, the health experts have recommended we lock down Tamworth for one week," New South Wales Premier Gladys Berejiklian told reporters in Sydney. The town lies some 400km northwest of Sydney.
Officials also urged people in the Byron Bay area to get tested after a man travelled from Sydney, the epicentre of the state's outbreak, to the tourist spot about 767km to the north.
The state of Victoria has announced plans to ease restrictions except in the capital Melbourne, which will remain in lockdown until at least 12 August. Brisbane, Queensland, came out of a stay-at-home order today.
Written by
Joe Myers, Writer, Formative Content
The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.
ATLANTA A metro Atlanta woman is mourning the death of her 28-year-old husband to COVID-19.
Braderick Wright died Saturday night. His widow, 25-year-old Brittany Wright, said his dying wish was for more people to get the vaccine.
[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]
That is his message: Get the vaccine. Because I would hate for people to be like me, Brittany Wright said.
Wright said her husband was hesitant to get the vaccine because of conspiracy theories he read online.
He was deep into Tik Tok conspiracy theories and, for him, he just didnt want to get (the shot), Wright said. He didnt trust the government.
She did get vaccinated last month and is still waiting to get her second shot.
TRENDING STORIES:
They both got sick, but only Braderick Wright ended up in the hospital on July 30. Brittany Wright said her husband changed his mind about the vaccine after that, but it was too late.
On Saturday, doctors called to tell Brittany that they needed to intubate her husband. She was able to go in to to talk to him one last time.
He told him he didnt want to lose me. I told him I didnt want to lose him, Brittany Wright said. I told him I loved him.
Just a few hours later, she got the call that his heart had stopped.
Wright said her husband did have preexisting conditions like diabetes and high blood pressure, but she didnt think shed lose him so young.
[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]
Im 25. And I mean, I never expected to be a widow at the age of 25, Wright said. I expected us to grow old together have kids, have grandchildren and just live the life, you know. But sadly, here I am today, planning his funeral.
The Wrights just got married in December, but have been a couple for five years. The both drive big rig trucks.
My husband was really, really goofy. He had an understanding life is always an adventure, Brittany Wright said. We had trips planned, and now I dont know what to do. He was literally the light of my world and that light is gone.
Doctors told Wright she likely survived because she already had one vaccine dose.
The family has set up a GoFundMe to help with funeral expenses. Braderick Wrights funeral is on Saturday.
2021 Cox Media Group
The pandemic is not coming to an end soon given that only a small proportion of the world population has been vaccinated against Covid-19, a well-known epidemiologist told CNBC.
Dr. Larry Brilliant, an epidemiologist who was part of the World Health Organization's team that helped eradicate smallpox, said the delta variant is "maybe the most contagious virus" ever.
In recent months, the U.S., India and China, as well as other countries in Europe, Africa and Asia have been grappling with a highly transmissible delta variant of the virus.
WHO declared Covid-19 a global pandemic last March after the disease, which first emerged in China in late 2019, spread throughout the world.
The good news is that vaccines particularly those using messenger RNA technology and the one by Johnson & Johnson are holding up against the delta variant, Brilliant told CNBC's "Squawk Box Asia" on Friday.
Unless we vaccinate everyone in 200 plus countries, there will still be new variants.
Larry Brilliant
Epidemiologist
Still, only 15% of the world population has been vaccinated and more than 100 countries have inoculated less than 5% of their people, noted Brilliant.
"I think we're closer to the beginning than we are to the end [of the pandemic], and that's not because the variant that we're looking at right now is going to last that long," said Brilliant, who is now the founder and CEO of a pandemic response consultancy, Pandefense Advisory.
"Unless we vaccinate everyone in 200 plus countries, there will still be new variants," he said, predicting that the coronavirus will eventually become a "forever virus" like influenza.
Brilliant said his models on the Covid outbreak in San Francisco and New York predict an "inverted V-shape epidemic curve." That implies that infections increase very quickly, but would also decline rapidly, he explained.
If the prediction turns out be true, it means that the delta variant spreads so quickly that "it basically runs out of candidates" to infect, explained Brilliant.
There appears to be a similar pattern in the U.K. and India, where the spread of the delta variant has receded from recent highs.
But I do caution people that this is the delta variant and we have not run out of Greek letters so there may be more to come.
Larry Brilliant
Epidemiologist
Daily reported cases in the U.K. on a seven-day moving average basis fell from a peak of around 47,700 cases on July 21 to around 26,000 cases on Thursday, according to statistics compiled by online database Our World in Data.
In India, the seven-day moving average of daily reported cases has stayed below 50,000 since late June far below the peak of more than 390,000 a day in May, the data showed.
"That may mean that this is a six-month phenomenon in a country, rather than a two-year phenomenon. But I do caution people that this is the delta variant and we have not run out of Greek letters so there may be more to come," he said.
The epidemiologist said there is a low probability that a "super variant" may emerge and vaccines don't work against it. While it's hard to predict these things, he added, it's a non-zero probability, which means it cannot be ruled out.
"It's such a catastrophic event should it occur, we have to do everything possible to prevent it," said Brilliant. "And that means get everyone vaccinated not just in your neighborhood, not just in your family, not just in your country but all over the world."
Some countries with relatively high vaccination rates such as the U.S. and Israel are planning booster shots for their population. Others, such as Haiti, only recently secured their first batch of vaccine doses.
WHO has called on wealthy countries to hold off on Covid vaccine boosters to give low-income countries a chance to vaccinate their people.
But in addition to boosting vaccination in countries with a low inoculation rate, Brilliant said one group of people needs a booster shot "right away" those who are 65 years and above, and were fully vaccinated more than six months ago but have a weakened immune system.
"It is this category of people that we've seen create multiple mutations when the virus goes through their body," said the epidemiologist.
"So those people, I would say, should be given a third dose, a booster right away as quickly as moving the vaccines to those countries that haven't had a very high chance to buy them or have access to them. I consider those two things about equal," he added.
CNBC's Rich Mendez contributed to this report.
AUSTIN (KXAN) The Austin Independent Board of Trustees is hosting a special called board meeting Monday with COVID-19 health and safety measures on the agenda.
The agenda lists an executive session, a COVID-19 Health and Data update and COVID-19 Safety Protocols as items, but details are limited.
Robocalls and emails went out to parents Sunday noting that families will get weekly updates on back-to-school plans, with Austin-Travis County moving into Stage 5 risk guidelines due to COVID-19 hospitalizations on the rise in the area.
In a recent survey the district conducted, 80% of families said they would have their child wear a mask to school, though they are not required.
Houston ISDs superintendent made headlines last week for proposing a mask mandate. The districts board is expected to vote on that this week.
Gov. Greg Abbott banned local government entities, including school districts, from mandating masks in an order issued July 29.
The AISD Board meeting will begin at 5 p.m.
