Increasingly, that feels like it's not enough. With guidance from the CDC remaining unchanged, local governments and individuals are taking their own steps to protect themselves and others.
"Things are moving so fast with delta," said Jeff Cretan, communication director for San Francisco Mayor London Breed. "What today seems impossible might seem inevitable a week from now. We just don’t know yet." Read more here.
People in Arkansas are already testing positive at a pace faster than the worst state in the summer 2020 outbreaks, a USA TODAY analysis of Johns Hopkins University data shows. In the week ending Saturday, Arkansas reported 11,748 cases, giving it a rate of about 389 cases per 100,000 population per week. The fastest-reporting state in the summer 2020 surge was Florida, which reported a rate of about 387 cases per 100,000 per week at its worst.
A number of states, including Florida, could soon surge past the summer 2020 mark. Louisiana's reporting a rate of 363, while Florida is reporting 341. Those counts have all been climbing precipitously.
Arkansas' surging cases have been turning into surging deaths. In mid-June Arkansas reported 13 deaths per week. In the week ending Saturday, it reported 56 deaths. On Saturday, Arkansas reported admitting 1,571 likely COVID-19 patients to hospitals, double the number from four weeks earlier.
– Mike Stucka
Several states, including Florida, Nebraska, Iowa and South Dakota, scaled back their reporting of COVID-19 statistics this month just as cases across the country started to skyrocket, depriving the public of real-time information on outbreaks, cases, hospitalizations and deaths in their communities. The trend of reducing data reporting has alarmed infectious disease specialists who believe that more information is better during a pandemic. People have come to rely on state virus dashboards to help make decisions about whether to attend large gatherings or wear masks in public, and understanding the level of risk in the community affects how people respond to virus restrictions and calls to get vaccinated.
Send an email
