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(JACKSONVILLE, Fla.) — Hospital officials in Northeast Florida are urging people to get vaccinated as the number of COVID-19 patients is approaching or exceeding levels they saw during the worst of the pandemic amid “rampant” spread of the more transmissible delta variant of the coronavirus.

UF Health Jacksonville, in Florida’s most populous city, has seen an “exponential” rise in the number of COVID-19 patients admitted in recent weeks, Chad Neilsen, director of infection prevention at the hospital, told ABC News.

The previous record for the highest number of daily COVID-19 patients across its two campuses — 125 — was set in January; the hospital surpassed that three days ago, Neilsen said, and is currently at 136, with about 40 people in the intensive care unit.

Last week, there were 75 COVID-19 patients in the hospital, 45 the prior week and 20 the week before that, according to Dr. Leon Haley Jr., CEO of UF Health Jacksonville.

“We knew it was most likely due to the delta variant taking a bigger footprint here in the Northeast Florida region because it was so rapid of an increase,” Nielsen said. “Everybody in town is suffering the same fate we are.”

At the Mayo Clinic’s Jacksonville hospital, there has been a “significant” increase in COVID-19 hospitalizations over the past three weeks, “approaching our previous peak numbers,” Dr. Ken Thielen, CEO of Mayo Clinic in Florida, said during a COVID-19 press briefing Wednesday with Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry and other local health care leaders.

“This represents a five-fold increase in COVID hospitalizations, and follows many weeks when we only had a handful of hospitalized COVID patients,” Thielen said.

There are other similarities among the area’s hospitals — the COVID-19 patients they are admitting are largely unvaccinated, and they are younger than what they’ve previously seen during the pandemic.

Among UF Health Jacksonville’s COVID-19 patients, 90% are unvaccinated, and nearly 70% range in age from 40 to 69, Neilsen said. Prior to this surge, 75% of the COVID-19 patients were ages 60 and up, he said.

“We’re definitely seeing a shift into a younger demographic of people,” he said.

According to Tom VanOsdol, president and CEO of Ascension Florida and Gulf Coast, which operates a hospital in Jacksonville, over 96% of its COVID-19 patients are unvaccinated.

“Our median age of our hospitalized patients is 49 — it was in the mid-60s in prior waves of this pandemic,” VanOsdol said during Wednesday’s press briefing. “So it’s a younger demographic who are not getting vaccinated that unfortunately are contracting COVID, and these cases are requiring hospitalization for treatment.”

At Baptist Health in Jacksonville, the COVID-19 patients are “younger, sicker and getting sicker quicker,” Chief Medical Officer Dr. Timothy Groover said during the briefing.

In the past month, 44% of COVID-19 patients at the hospital were in their 40s or younger, and “most were previously healthy,” he said.

As the delta variant has quickly become the dominant variant spreading in the United States, Florida is one of four states reporting the highest weekly COVID-19 case rates per capita, with over 200 cases per 100,000 residents, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

As of Monday, the seven-day average of new cases went up 107.48% in Duval County, where Jacksonville sits, according to the CDC.

At the same time, fewer than half of the state’s residents are fully vaccinated, according to the CDC. Rates are lagging in Duval County, where 41% of residents are fully vaccinated.

“Vaccines are stagnant here in Northeast Florida, and the delta variant is just running rampant amongst the unvaccinated folks,” Neilsen said.

Neilson attributes the latest surge in part to delta’s rise coinciding with Fourth of July gatherings, but said it’s hard to predict where hospitalizations might be heading “because it spreads so quickly.”

Hospitals in the region are worried about staff burnout and shortages as the pandemic wears on and unvaccinated staff are exposed in the community and also get sick.

“We’re facing a real staffing crisis if this continues,” Nielsen said.

The area health care leaders offered a plea for people to get vaccinated if they haven’t already, and to continue mask-wearing, social distancing and hand-washing.

Curry also urged residents to get vaccinated — but stopped short of issuing any restrictions.

“The path to moving beyond the surge and preventing future ones is increasing our percentage of vaccinations,” he said during Wednesday’s briefing. “The math is clear — vaccines work. Restrictions to our economy and personal freedoms are not the answer. The answer is getting vaccinated.”

“Hospitals are full and busy because of unvaccinated people, so the solution here is to get the vaccine,” he added.

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(MIDDLETOWN, Ohio) — A 14-year-old girl died Tuesday evening after she was pulled from the water at an Ohio theme park, officials said.

Police were called to the Land of Illusion Aqua Adventure Park in Middletown after the teen went under water and did not surface, the Butler County Sheriff’s Office said.

The sheriff’s office said in a press release that the girl went under at about 5 p.m. and she wasn’t located until a half hour later.

The victim was identified by authorities as Mykiara Jones.

Mykiara was airlifted to Dayton Children’s Hospital, where she later died, police and other officials said.

“This is a tragedy no parent should have to endure,” Butler County Sheriff Richard Jones said in a statement. “These are the calls first responders dread and have difficulty dealing with. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family.”

An investigation is ongoing.

In a statement released on its Facebook page, Land of Illusion’s owners said it closed down the water park and is cooperating with investigators to determine what happened.

“We ask that you join us in sending thoughts and prayers and our deepest condolences to our guest’s family and friends, as well as to the team members and guests who were onsite last evening during this tragedy,” the owners said.

The Middletown School District put out a statement alerting the community about Mykiara’s death.

Superintendent Marlon Styles said Mykiara was going to be a freshman at Middletown High School in the fall and the teen’s mother worked in the school system.

“We will be wrapping our arms around her during this extremely difficult time,” Styles said of Mykiara’s mother.

The school provided students, faculty and other members with information on counseling services.

“We extend our deepest sympathy and prayers to the family, friends, and teachers of Mykiara. We pray the family finds peace and comfort during this difficult time,” Styles said.

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(LAS VEGAS) — Alarmed by the rising number of COVID-19 cases in Las Vegas, elected officials approved a new indoor public space mask mandate for all county employees, but it excludes tourists and has no bearing on casinos or public schools.

The Clark County Commission unanimously adopted the motion Tuesday night following a raucous emergency hearing, in which the majority of speakers opposed a recommendation from the Southern Nevada Health District to require all members of the public to wear masks in all public settings.

Under the new rule, all Clark County employees, regardless of their vaccination status, will be required to wear masks in public spaces of county buildings, but not in their enclosed offices or cubicles.

Dr. Cort Lohff, chief medical officer for the Southern Nevada Health District, told the commission that COVID-19 infections in the community have tripled since early June, driven largely by the delta variant.

Las Vegas casinos and other businesses were allowed to fully open in early June after months of being closed or operating under severely limited capacity.

The county’s COVID test-positivity rate is at 13.8% and data from state health officials showed that 889 new COVID cases were reported in Clark County on Tuesday alone.

On Friday, the health district issued a recommendation to require all members of the public to wear masks in public settings “regardless of their vaccination status.”

Health officials said that roughly 42% of the population in Clark County is fully vaccinated. The U.S. population overall currently stands at 48.8% fully vaccinated.

“Out biggest pockets of unvaccinated are younger folks, 12 and older who are eligible for the vaccine. We are also seeing low rates among African American folks,” said Lohff, adding that the health district has launched an outreach program that includes a social media campaign to encourage people to get vaccinated.

“The most important thing is to increase our vaccination rates in our community because we know that the vaccines are very safe and despite what you heard, very effective,” Lohff said.

Commissioners said they could not issue a full mask mandate on the public because they have no jurisdiction over casinos and other private buildings in the city of Las Vegas.

“This has nothing to do with the school district,” said Marilyn Kirkpatricks, chairperson of the Clark County Commission. “The school district rules fall under the state Board of Education and the Clark County School District.”

Commissioner Jim Gibson, who proposed the limited mask mandate, said, “We have to do something.”

“We can’t afford to allow hospitals to become more worse in terms of their crowding and we cannot afford to have this economy suffer in the slightest,” Gibson said. “We have already been through a shutdown and a startup. We cannot afford to have major conventions choose to go elsewhere.”

The mask mandate will is scheduled to go into effect at midnight Thursday and will stay in place until at least Aug. 17 when the commission meets again.

Clark County is the most populous county in Nevada with about 2.3 million residents and includes the cities of Las Vegas, North Las Vegas and Henderson.

Gov. Steve Sisolak, a Democrat, applauded the mask mandate the commission passed.

“I support the Clark County Commission for using their local authority to issue this mitigation measure amid significant community transmission in Southern Nevada and as we continue our joint effort to increase access and confidence in the COVID-19 vaccines,” Sisolak said in a statement posted on Twitter.

Some business owners, such as Ben Cucio, who owns a watch design and repair company, told the commission he fears that a total public mask mandate will eventually be imposed if the county’s COVID-19 crisis continues to worsen.

“People are not going to make any money and they’re not going to make any semblance of a reality having to face another shutdown,” Cucio said.

Todd Koren, CEO of Absolute Exhibits, a company that builds exhibits for trade shows and conventions, said he supports the commission for taking action.

“I think it’s a great first step. We have to prove to our tourists that Las Vegas is a safe place to come and visit,” Koren told Las Vegas ABC affiliate KTNV. “Exhibitors who are thinking about coming to a trade show just want to know that it’s safe and that we’re taking the right measures.”

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(LOS ANGELES) — The heat emanating from the dozens of wildfires ravaging the West is creating thunderstorms without rain in regions desperate for moisture.

The pyrocumulus clouds, or fire-driven thunderstorm clouds, are created as large pockets of heat and smoke from the Bootleg Fire in southern Oregon rise and meet a relatively cool atmosphere.

The thunderstorms typically don’t contain rain because any moisture that forms usually evaporates on the way down. Vegetation parched by the megadrought is more likely to burn if struck by lightning, and gusty winds from the storms can spread fires more rapidly.

This year’s dry season, exacerbated by the megadrought and climate change, has created a tinderbox, with the relative humidity often as low as 10%.

At least 87 large wildfires are burning in 13 states, with more than 2.5 million acres burned so far this year.

The Bootleg Fire has burned through 388,360 acres and is 32% contained. The fire is threatening about 5,000 homes and has caused thousands of households in Lake County, Oregon, to evacuate.

Evacuations also are occurring near Lake Tahoe due to the Tamarack Fire, which had burned through nearly 40,000 acres by Wednesday morning and was 0% contained.

The Dixie Fire in Butte County, California, has scorched more than 85,000 acres and was 15% contained.

The haze from the smoke-filled skies even traveled east, causing air quality alerts in several East Coast cities, including New York, which marked its poorest air quality in several years.

More than 750,000 acres have burned in 2021 than at the same time last year, and fire season is far from over. The wet season typically begins in October.

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(DENVER) — One woman is dead and two adults are missing in the wake of a devastating flash flood and mudslide in Colorado, authorities said.

The flooding in the Poudre Canyon in Larimer County, about 100 miles north of Denver, was reported at about 4:45 p.m. Tuesday, the Larimer County Sheriff’s Office said.

A mudslide around 6 p.m. sent debris flowing into the canyon, destroying at least five structures and damaging the road, the sheriff’s office said.

Outage update: Crews were able to restore power to around 30 members last night. There are currently 101 members without power. For those members, we are expecting extended outages that could last multiple days. #cowx #flood2021 pic.twitter.com/OLYwZfHcLM

— Poudre Valley REA (@PoudreValleyREA) July 21, 2021

Evacuations were ordered around 7:45 p.m. The evacuation mandate was lifted later in the night.

Search operations are ongoing Wednesday by foot and drone. Divers will try to recover the victim as well as a car in the river, the sheriff’s office said.

And the danger isn’t over — the flash flood threat will remain through the week.

“We ask that residents remain alert to the weather conditions in the event additional evacuations may be necessary,” the sheriff’s office said.

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