Cases and deaths from COVID-19 rose in additional than half of U.S. states over the previous week as vaccination charges sluggish and the extremely transmissible delta variant spreads throughout the globe.
Forty-seven states reported extra new COVID-19 instances final week than within the week earlier than, and deaths rose in 30 states in comparison with every week earlier, a USA TODAY evaluation of Johns Hopkins University information reveals.
In Missouri, the place instances are surging, one county requested the state for funding Wednesday to determine an “alternate care site” for COVID-19 sufferers.
“Over the past week, we have seen dramatic increases in COVID-19-related cases,” Katie Towns, interim director for the Springfield-Greene County Health Department, mentioned at a press convention. “We need help.”
Hospital admissions are additionally anticipated to extend over the subsequent 4 weeks, an ensemble forecast by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention predicted Wednesday. The U.S. might even see as much as 11,000 new hospital admissions reported on Aug. 9, in response to the forecast.
Worldwide, instances declined steadily for two months however rose 10% in comparison with the earlier week, the World Health Organization mentioned. The quantity of weekly deaths, which declined steadily for 9 consecutive weeks, additionally elevated.
“The increased transmissibility associated with the delta variant is likely to result in substantial increases in case incidence and greater pressure on healthcare systems, particularly in contexts of low vaccine coverage,” the United Nations well being company mentioned.
The delta variant, first recognized in India, accounts for almost 58% of U.S. infections, CDC information suggests. The variant has been detected in at the very least 111 nations and is prone to change into the dominant variant globally “over the coming months,” the WHO mentioned.
Less than 1 / 4 of the world’s inhabitants has acquired at the very least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, and there are “vast inequities” in vaccine distribution and administration, with the bulk of vaccines administered in a small quantity of excessive and upper-middle-income nations, the WHO mentioned.
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Also within the information:
►Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed a invoice into legislation Wednesday that might prohibit public colleges and schools from requiring people to obtain vaccines not granted full approval by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
►More than 600,000 Michigan residents could should pay again pandemic-related unemployment assist after the state discovered that some causes for eligibility authorized months in the past have been improper.
►After Greek authorities recorded almost 3,000 new COVID-19 infections on Wednesday, a gaggle of greater than 5,000 anti-vaccine protesters rallied in Athens to oppose the nation’s vaccination program.
►Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer introduced the primary spherical of $50,000 “MI Shot To Win” day by day drawing winners Wednesday. Three metro Detroit residents have been among the many preliminary 4 who received $50,000 every for getting their COVID-19 vaccines this month.
►Connecticut lawmakers voted Wednesday to once more lengthen Democratic Gov. Ned Lamont’s emergency declarations first issued throughout the early days of the pandemic, regardless of pushback from Republicans and a few Democrats who argued it is time to get again to regular.
►Johnson & Johnson mentioned its one-dose shot protects towards the delta variant and produces an immune response that lasts eight months and counting. The firm introduced the preprint examine outcomes earlier this month and printed the interim examine ends in the New England Journal of Medicine on Wednesday.
►The Washington Monument reopened to the general public Wednesday after being closed for six months on account of COVID-19 security measures.
►Los Angeles County is reporting the fifth straight day of greater than 1,000 new instances. County officers mentioned the five-day common of instances is 1,095 – a bounce of greater than 500% in only one month.
►Daily coronavirus instances in Britain rose above 40,000 for the primary time in almost six months Wednesday. Meanwhile, Britain’s Johanna Konta introduced she will not compete on the Tokyo Olympics after testing constructive for COVID-19.
📈 Today’s numbers: The U.S. has had greater than 33.9 million confirmed COVID-19 instances and greater than 608,100 deaths, in response to Johns Hopkins University information. The international totals: greater than 188.2 million instances and greater than 4.05 million deaths. Nearly 160 million Americans – 48.1% of the inhabitants – have been absolutely vaccinated, in response to the CDC.
📘 What we’re studying: Are play dates protected? What about flights? As dad and mom wrestle to find out what summer time actions are protected for their unvaccinated youngsters, USA TODAY referred to as on well being specialists to price 10 occasions.
Keep refreshing this web page for the newest information. Want extra? Sign up for USA TODAY’s Coronavirus Watch e-newsletter to obtain updates on to your inbox and be a part of our Facebook group.
Health leaders search ‘alternate care web site’ to ease COVID-19 burden
One Missouri county requested the state for funding to determine an “alternate care site” for COVID-19 sufferers amid a surge of instances as a result of delta variant.
As new Springfield-area infections reached ranges not seen since mid-January, leaders from the Springfield-Greene County Health Department, the Greene County Office of Emergency Management, CoxHealth and Mercy introduced a brand new bid to shortly get state-level funding in place to determine an “alternate care site” for COVID-19 sufferers.
The alternate care web site would assist Greene County’s hospitals tackle the flood of sufferers they have been seeing in current weeks, because the delta variant sweeps its manner via the unvaccinated inhabitants in Missouri, officers mentioned throughout a disaster replace on the Greene County Public Safety Center.
The alternate care web site can be a facility for delivering “transitional care, to patients who are stable enough to be released from the hospital,” Towns mentioned. Read extra.
– Gregory J. Holman, Springfield News-Leader
Mike Pence: Evidence ‘strongly suggests’ COVID-19 got here from a Chinese lab
Former Vice President Mike Pence, in a blistering speech about China on Wednesday, mentioned the United States should demand that Chinese leaders “come clean” concerning the origins of COVID-19.
“The evidence strongly suggests the coronavirus leapt out of the Chinese lab,” Pence mentioned throughout remarks on the Heritage Foundation, a conservative suppose tank the place he’s a visiting fellow.
Pence, who lead the Trump administration’s coronavirus activity drive, didn’t elaborate on that proof.
In a paper posted Wednesday, a group of 21 virologists mentioned there’s at present no proof that the coronavirus started in a lab. But there’s “substantial body of scientific evidence supporting a zoonotic origin,” the scientists wrote. Read extra.
– Maureen Groppe
With Olympics days away, Tokyo virus instances strategy 6-month excessive
With the Tokyo Olympics opening in simply over every week, Tokyo reported its highest quantity of new COVID-19 instances in virtually six months on Wednesday, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government mentioned.
The surging numbers got here out on the identical day that International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach paid a courtesy name in Tokyo on Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga.
Suga and Bach have each pledged that the Tokyo Olympics shall be “safe and secure” regardless of the video games opening with Tokyo and neighboring prefectures underneath a nationwide government-imposed state of emergency. Read extra.
Olivia Rodrigo speaks in help of Biden, Fauci vaccine marketing campaign
Pop star Olivia Rodrigo headed to the White House on Wednesday to satisfy with President Joe Biden and chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci.
As half of the Biden-Harris Administration’s effort to get younger folks vaccinated, officers have been anticipated to make movies with Rodrigo to speak concerning the significance of the vaccine and reply essential questions younger folks may need.
“It’s important to have conversations with friends and family members encouraging all communities to get vaccinated and actually get to a vaccination site,” the 18-year-old singer mentioned at a press briefing. “Thank you all for helping share this important message. It’s so appreciated.”
The Pfizer vaccine was authorized to inoculate kids 12 years previous and up in May. About 33.5% of 12-to 15-year-old Americans have at the very least one dose of the vaccine, and 24.9% are absolutely vaccinated, in response to the CDC.
The administration has beforehand labored with younger influencers on TikTookay and gaming platforms to take their initiative “one step forward” in reaching youthful audiences. Read extra.
– Charles Trepany
Hazardous items discovered for sale after shopper safety inspectors have been pulled from ports throughout COVID-19
The authorities’s shopper watchdog company has found broadly ranging hazards amongst toys and different merchandise now for sale after it secretly stopped routine inspections of imports throughout the pandemic.
But the Consumer Product Safety Commission nonetheless has not answered fundamental questions from lawmakers concerning the dangers to shoppers from its choice to ship its port inspectors house for almost six months, a security lapse first uncovered by USA TODAY.
In a brand new report back to Congress, the company additionally did not disclose what it plans to do about harmful merchandise available on the market.
It turned up many considerations in a pair of spot checks to evaluate the potential hurt, together with pink flags within the paperwork of 40 p.c of the 56 corporations it deemed at highest danger for having imported unsafe merchandise throughout the port inspection shutdown. The company mentioned it adopted up with inspections and now could be performing on “potential violations discovered.” Read extra.
– Letitia Stein and Tricia L. Nadolny
Why specialists anticipated Guillain-Barré to look in some vaccine recipients
Even although the Food and Drug Administration up to date the warning label on Johnson & Johnson’s coronavirus vaccine to incorporate an elevated danger of a uncommon neurological dysfunction, well being specialists say Americans shouldn’t fear.
The CDC estimates 3,000 to six,000 folks develop Guillain-Barré syndrome within the U.S. annually. The odds of creating GBS after getting the COVID-19 shot, specialists say, are lower than getting it from different vaccines, micro organism and viruses, together with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.
“The risk of getting COVID and developing severe disease or long COVID is so much more than your risk of developing a rare syndrome of the vaccine,” mentioned Dr. Len Horovitz, a pulmonary specialist and internist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. “You should put your arm out and get the shot.” Read extra.
– Adrianna Rodriguez
US overdose deaths hit report 93,000 in 2020
Overdose deaths soared to a report 93,000 final 12 months within the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. authorities reported Wednesday. That estimate eclipses the excessive of about 72,000 drug overdose deaths reached the earlier 12 months and quantities to a 29% improve.
“This is a staggering loss of human life,” mentioned Brandon Marshall, a Brown University public well being researcher who tracks overdose tendencies.
The nation was already combating its worst overdose epidemic however clearly “COVID has greatly exacerbated the crisis,” he added. Lockdowns and different pandemic restrictions remoted these with drug addictions and made remedy tougher to get, specialists mentioned. Read extra.
2 rural Indiana counties battle vaccine tradition warfare, just one is successful
Nestled within the southeast nook of Indiana alongside the Kentucky border, Switzerland and Ohio counties share a lot in frequent: They are rural riverside communities with no main highways. They are overwhelmingly white — each about 96% — and never significantly rich, with median family incomes beneath $32,000.
But in a single vital manner, these two neighboring counties couldn’t be extra totally different. Ohio County has the state’s third-highest vaccination price. Switzerland County has the fourth-lowest vaccination price. Read the total story.
– Ko Lyn Cheang, Indianapolis Star
Contributing: Mike Stucka, USA TODAY; The Associated Press
This article initially appeared on USA TODAY: Delta variant accounts for 58% of infections; COVID instances, deaths rise
