The U.S. is once again reporting more than 1,000 new coronavirus infections every hour, according to a USA TODAY analysis of Johns Hopkins University data for the week ending Wednesday.
The nation is averaging about 25,300 new cases per day, more than double the rate of the week of June 22. The total rose in 48 states – all but Iowa and South Dakota. Still, the totals represent only about 10% of the numbers reported in the U.S. in its worst week in January.
Deaths also rose in most states, and deaths and infections are also once again rising globally. The World Health Organization reported deaths climbed last week after nine straight weeks of decline. It recorded more than 55,000 lives lost, a 3% increase from the week before. Cases rose 10% last week to nearly 3 million, WHO said.
Low vaccination rates, the relaxation of mask rules and other precautions, and the swift spread of the more-contagious delta variant are blamed. Sarah McCool, a professor of public health at Georgia State University, said the combination amounts to a "recipe for a potential tinderbox."
Also in the news:
►Rich Eisen, who anchors special event coverage for the NFL Network, is quarantining with COVID-19 despite having received both doses of the Pfizer vaccine in February, according to an Instagram post Thursday.
►USA Basketball national team guard Bradley Beal, one of the NBA's leading scorers, has been placed in health and safety protocols just days before the start of the Olympics, a person familiar with the development told USA TODAY Sports. His availability for the games was uncertain.
►Daily coronavirus cases in Britain rose above 40,000 for the first time in nearly six months. The government warned that 100,000 daily infections may be possible this summer.
►Nebraska will resume reporting coronavirus statistics after dropping the practice a week ago after public health experts widely criticized the decision. The updates will be weekly rather than daily.
►New coronavirus cases leaped in New York in the week ending Sunday, rising 66%, state and national records show.
►Johnson & Johnson said its one-dose shot protects against the delta variant and produces an immune response that lasts eight months and counting. The company announced the preprint study results earlier this month and published the interim study results in the New England Journal of Medicine on Wednesday.
? Today's numbers: The U.S. has had more than 33.95 million confirmed COVID-19 cases and more than 608,100 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. The global totals: more than 188.6 million cases and more than 4 million deaths. More than 160 million Americans — 48.2% of the population — have been fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.
? What we're reading: Thousands of schoolchildren on the Navajo Nation live without internet access, computers, cellular service or basics like electricity. When the pandemic hit, more than 23,398 Native American students in New Mexico lacked the high-speed internet and devices they needed for remote learning, the state’s Public Education Department concluded. The true number is significantly higher.
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COVID-19 cases surge to six-month high in Tokyo a week before Olympics
New coronavirus cases surged to 1,308 in Tokyo on Thursday, a six-month high, as fears rise of a possible dramatic increase that could flood hospitals during the Olympics that start in eight days.
Tokyo is under a fourth state of emergency, which began Monday and requires restaurants and bars to close early and not serve alcohol through the Olympics, which start July 23.
Thursday’s tally is the highest since 1,485 were recorded on Jan. 21, when Japan was under an earlier state of emergency, and is also a jump from Wednesday’s 1,149.
Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike noted that the largest increase in serious cases and hospitalizations was among people in their 50s and younger who are largely unvaccinated. She expressed concern about the impact on the medical system as infections are propelled by the more contagious delta strain of the virus. Read more.
Artist to blanket National Mall with 600K white flags for COVID victims
More than 600,000 white flags will cover the National Mall this fall in a public art installation honoring of the victims of COVID-19 in the U.S.
Maryland artist Suzanne Brennan Firstenberg announced the "In America: Remember" project Thursday to create "a national opportunity to reflect upon the enormous toll of the pandemic of 2020 and 2021."
"This fall as employers bring workers back to office buildings and students return to school, it will be too easy to 'go back to normal,'" Brennan Firstenberg said in a press release. "But for one in three American families, there is no normal."
Brennan Firstenberg said the installation is "more than an act of remembrance." It will also "provide a historic visual reminder us for years to come that being an American means caring for all Americans."
The installation will run from Sept. 17 to Oct. 3. Visitors will be allowed walk through the 3.8 miles of paths and dedicate a flag for a loved one. People who cannot visit in person can dedicate a flag online to appear in physical form on the Mall.
Brennan Firstenberg first installed the project last fall at a site at D.C.'s Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, where she placed more than 267,000 flags before the exhibition ran out of space.
Study identifies more than 200 long-haul COVID-19 symptoms
A new global study in the Lancet identified more than 200 symptoms of long-haul COVID-19 spanning 10 organ systems, with the majority of respondents still recovering several months after their diagnoses.
The most common symptoms after six months were fatigue, cognitive dysfunction and post-exertional malaise. Others included various pulmonary and cardiovascular issues.
More than 3,700 people with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 from 56 countries participated in the study. More than 90% of respondents had a recovery time that exceeded 35 weeks.
"A lot of post-COVID clinics in the UK have focused on respiratory rehabilitation. It’s true that a lot of people have shortness of breath, but they also have a lot of other problems and types of symptoms that the clinics need to provide a more holistic approach to," Athena Akrami, a neuroscientist at University College London and senior author of the study, told the Guardian.
Surgeon general calls health misinformation an 'urgent threat'
Dr. Vivek Murthy issued his first advisory as President Joe Biden's surgeon general on Thursday, warning of the "urgent threat of health misinformation" during the pandemic.
In the advisory, Murthy said misinformation and disinformation has contributed to a decline in COVID-19 vaccinations and an increase in violence against health officials and others enforcing social distancing protocols. About two-thirds of U.S. adults have gotten at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The advisory also lays out various steps individuals, families, educators, health professionals, journalists and tech companies, among others, can do to combat misinformation.
"Health misinformation is an urgent threat to public health. It can cause confusion, sow mistrust, and undermine public health efforts, including our ongoing work to end the COVID-19 pandemic," Murthy said in a statement.
California cases more than double in two weeks
California has seen an uptick in cases throughout July, a 124% rise from two weeks ago, Los Angeles Times data reports. Los Angeles county itself has topped 1,000 cases for five straight days. And though hospitalizations remain low, they're coming from a specific source.
"To date, we have not had a patient admitted to a (Department of Health Services) hospital who has been fully vaccinated, with either the J&J, Pfizer or Moderna vaccine," county health services director Dr. Christina Ghaly said Tuesday. "Every single patient that we've admitted for COVID is not yet fully vaccinated."
The DHS runs four hospitals in the area. More than 60% of California residents have been fully vaccinated, but vaccination rates have slowed in recent weeks.
'Make polio great again'?: White House, others rip Tennessee for dropping vaccine outreach
The Tennessee Department of Health's halt of vaccination outreach for adolescents is drawing nationwide attention. TDH's new approach includes removing teens from postcards about vaccination doses, stopping COVID-19 vaccination events on school property and scrubbing the agency's logo from certain documents that may be provided, according to an internal report and emails obtained by the Tennessean, part of the USA TODAY Network. This goes for all vaccines. Not just COVID-19.
Supporters stress that outreach will continue for parents. But Christopher Hale, a 2020 Democratic nominee for U.S. Congress, accused Gov. Bill Lee's administration of "working hard today to make polio great again."
"We've of course seen the reporting and coverage of this issue," White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said. "We stand against any effort that would politicize our country's pandemic response."
Meanwhile, amid the scaling back of efforts on vaccination outreach, the rate of daily coronavirus infections in Tennessee has more than tripled in the past three weeks – one of the largest increases in the entire nation. Read more here.
– Daniella Medina and Brett Kelman, Nashville Tennessean
Indonesia becomes Asia's new virus hot spot, surpassing India case counts
Indonesia reported more than 54,000 new coronavirus cases for the first time Wednesday, surpassing recent daily infections in India, whose disastrous outbreak is declining, and becoming Asia's new virus hotspot.
Officials fear that the more highly transmissible delta variant is now spreading from the islands of Java and Bali, where outbreaks prompted a partial lockdown that closed places of worship, malls, parks and restaurants. The Health Ministry reported 54,517 new cases Wednesday; a month ago daily cases were running at about 8,000.
Contributing: Mike Stucka, USA TODAY; The Associated Press.
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