(NEW YORK) — The United States is facing a COVID-19 surge this summer as the more contagious delta variant spreads.
More than 615,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 and over 4.2 million people have died worldwide, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.
Just 58.4% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC last week, citing new science on the transmissibility of the delta variant, changed its mask guidance to now recommend everyone in areas with substantial or high levels of transmission — vaccinated or not — wear a face covering in public, indoor settings.
Aug 07, 11:41 am
7-day average of daily US vaccinations highest since June
The nation’s current seven-day average of 481,000 new COVID-19 vaccinations a day is the highest rate recorded since June 18, White House COVID Data Director Cyrus Shahpar said.
More young Americans are getting shots as well, with the daily average of 12-to-15-year-olds doubling over the last month.
Aug 07, 10:51 am
Florida reports over 134,000 new COVID-19 cases in past week
Florida’s COVID-19 cases have continued to soar week after week, with 134,506 new virus cases reported over the past week, according to the state Department of Health.
That beats last week’s weekly record of 110,420 new infections.
Now the weekly case positivity rate in the state stands at 18.9%. There were also 175 virus deaths reported over the past week.
-ABC News’ Joshua Hoyos
Aug 06, 11:49 pm
409 positive cases at Tokyo Olympics
As of Saturday, there are 409 positive COVID-19 cases at the Olympics, According to Tokyo 2020’s coronavirus case list.
That is an increase of 22 cases since Friday.
All of the people who tested positive are either Games-concerned personnel, Tokyo 2020 contractors, media or volunteers. One Games-concerned employee was in the Olympic Village at the time of their positive test.
Aug 06, 10:06 pm
Amazon mandates warehouse workers wear masks
Amazon said Friday it was mandating all 900,000 of its warehouse workers wear masks, regardless of whether they are vaccinated.
The company had previously only required unvaccinated workers to wear masks. It blamed the change on the increasing risk presented by the delta variant.
“In response to the concerning spread of new COVID-19 variants in the U.S. and guidance from public health authorities and our own medical experts, we are requiring face coverings indoors regardless of vaccination status,” Amazon said in a statement. “We are monitoring the situation closely and will continue to follow local government guidance and work closely with leading medical healthcare professionals, gathering their advice and recommendations as we go forward to ensure our buildings are optimized for the safety of our teams.”
Many companies have taken the added step of requiring vaccinations, including fellow tech giants Google and Facebook.
Aug 06, 6:27 pm
US records highest single-day COVID case total in 6 months
The U.S. has recorded its highest single-day COVID-19 case total in exactly six months with more than 120,000 new cases reported, according to newly updated Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data.
The country is now averaging more than 96,000 new cases a day.
Additionally, every single state in the country is reporting “high” (a seven-day new case rate ≥100) or “substantial” (a seven-day new case rate between 50-99.99) community transmission.
-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.