US Covid-19 cases hit six-month high, more symptomatic children in Florida and Texas hospitals
- Dr Anthony Fauci says US cases could double to 200,000 a day
- Children’s Covid-19 infections are rising in Florida and Texas
Daily new Covid-19 cases have climbed to a six-month high in the United States, with more than 100,000 infections reported nationwide as the Delta variant ravaged Florida and other states with lower vaccination rates.
The seven-day average of new reported cases reached nearly 95,000, a five-fold increase in less than a month, Reuters data through Wednesday showed.
Seven US states with among the lowest Covid-19 vaccination rates – Florida, Texas, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi – account for half of the country’s new cases and hospitalisations in the last week, White House Covid-19 coordinator Jeff Zients said on Thursday.
“We’re seeing terrifying #COVID19 trends in our hospitals,” County Judge Lina Hidalgo wrote on Twitter. She is the top official of Harris County, the most populous county in Texas and home to the city of Houston. “At this point if you’re unvaccinated by choice, you’re complicit in this crisis.”
The US government will supply booster shots to Americans with compromised immune systems, Dr Anthony Fauci, the top US infectious disease expert, said on Thursday. A day earlier he warned that cases could double to 200,000 per day due to the variant in the coming weeks.