(NEW YORK) — The United States has been facing a COVID-19 surge as the more contagious delta variant continues to spread.
More than 708,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 while over 4.8 million people have died from the disease worldwide, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.
Just 65.7% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the CDC.
Latest headlines:
-Hospitalizations drop but deaths remain high
-Pfizer submits kids vaccine emergency use authorization request to FDA
-LA passes vaccine mandate for indoor restaurants, bars, gyms, malls and more
-More Americans died of COVID this year than all of 2020
Here’s how the news is developing. All times Eastern.
Oct 07, 1:37 pm
78% of adults have had 1 dose: White House
Seventy-eight percent of adults have now had at least one vaccine dose, White House COVID-19 data director Cyrus Shahpar tweeted.
Oct 07, 12:35 pm
Hospitalizations drop but deaths remain high
Hospitalizations in the U.S. have dropped from 104,000 to about 69,000 over the last five weeks, according to federal data.
More than a third of the drop was in Florida, where there are about 13,000 fewer patients compared to just over one month ago.
Daily COVID-19-related hospital admissions are also down nationally by 13.6% in the last week, according to federal data.
But states like Alaska and West Virginia, are still experiencing record-breaking surges, while Alabama, Kentucky, Georgia, Idaho and Texas still have ICU capacities near 10%.
Overnight, the U.S. reported nearly 2,000 COVID-19 related fatalities.
Around 1,400 virus-related deaths are being reported each day, which is nearly 7.5 times higher than in mid-July, according to federal data.
Texas is reporting thousands of deaths each week.
ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos
Oct 07, 9:00 am
United expects travel surge in December
United Airlines expects a travel surge and plans to fly 3,500 daily domestic flights in December, making it the largest schedule since the start of the pandemic.
Flight searches for the holidays are up 16% on the airline’s website and app compared to 2019.
Florida and ski resorts are expected to be the hottest destinations.
ABC News’ Sam Sweeney
Oct 07, 8:20 am
Pfizer submits kids vaccine emergency use authorization request to FDA
Pfizer has submitted an emergency use authorization to the FDA for use of its vaccine in children ages 5 to 11.
The FDA will have a public hearing on Oct. 26.
Shots for children 5 to 11 may be available by early November.
ABC News’ Eric M. Strauss
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.