Korean automaker Kia is issuing another recall due to a possible fire risk.

This time, the recall affects 70,000 Sorento and Sportage SUV models from 2016 to 2023.

On its website, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Kia is recommending that owners park their vehicles outside and away from structures because debris and moisture might get into a tow hitch harness module printed circuit board and cause a short, resulting in a fire.

The NHTSA said that the tow hitch harnesses might have been installed before they were sold or bought as an accessory through a Kia dealership.

The recall focuses the 2021-23 Sorento Hybrid model, the 2022-23 Sorento Plug-in Hybrid, and the 2017-2022 Sportage, the NHTSA said.

According to the NHTSA, three fires were confirmed, but no fatalities, injuries, or crashes were reported.

This recall expands on one Kia issued in August that affected more than 36,000 Kia Telluride models due to a similar issue. That recall also affected 245,000 Hyundai Palisade SUV models.

Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed on Nov. 14, the agency said.

The automaker has dealt with multiple fire-related recalls in recent years, involving brakes, and engines.

Plummeting COVID-19 case counts across the United States are leading to lifted mask mandates and more conversations about steps toward normalcy — but more people are dying of the coronavirus now than during most points of the pandemic.

More than 2,000 COVID-19 deaths have been reported in the United States each day for the past month. Average daily deaths are falling, but from a very high point. They dipped just below that mark in recent days, to about 1,900 on Monday; the federal holiday may have delayed reporting.

Before omicron became the dominant coronavirus strain in the U.S., there were only about 100 other days when there were more than 2,000 COVID-19 deaths, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

The only other time that deaths have been this high for this long was during the first winter surge, before vaccines were available. The omicron wave has also been deadlier for longer than the delta surge: In September, when delta was dominant, average daily deaths topped 2,000 for half as long.

More than 120,000 people in the U.S. have died of COVID-19 since omicron became the dominant variant in December, and COVID-19 has accounted for more than 1 in 5 deaths reported in 2022.

A common refrain early in the pandemic was that COVID-19 was most deadly for the elderly and people with certain health conditions. The people dying from COVID-19 now tend to be younger than before, and they're overwhelmingly unvaccinated, experts say.

"I've long since lost track of the number of people I've seen die of the disease, but the reality is that almost everybody who is critically ill, in the ICU or dying now remains unvaccinated. That has been true since the beginning. But in the beginning, people didn't have the opportunity to be vaccinated," said Dr. Stephen Threlkeld, medical director of the infectious diseases program at Baptist Memorial Health Care in Memphis.

"None of us taking care of COVID patients need CDC statistics or anyone else to tell us that, because we simply see that reality play out every day and have for quite some time."

But the data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is clear. In December, the risk of dying from COVID-19 was 14 times higher for unvaccinated adults than it was for adults who were fully vaccinated with their initial series. The gap was even larger when looking at those who also got their booster shot: 51 times higher.

Throughout the pandemic, the majority of COVID-19 deaths have happened in hospitals. But that share is even larger now, as nursing homes have become less of a hotspot. In 2020, more than 1 in 5 COVID-19 deaths was in a nursing home. But in 2022, fewer than 1 in 10 deaths have been in nursing homes, according to provisional data from the CDC.

Vaccination rates are higher among older people in the U.S., leaving a larger share of younger, unvaccinated people at higher risk for severe outcomes.

Nearly 90% of seniors 65 and older are fully vaccinated with their initial vaccine series, and about two-thirds of those eligible have gotten their booster shot. But less than two-thirds of adults under the age of 40 and less than a third of children are fully vaccinated.

And the vaccines are working. Seniors accounted for 81% of COVID-19 deaths in 2020, a number that dropped to 69% in 2021 and has stayed at 76% so far in 2022, despite the increased risk for breakthrough infection amid exponential community spread.

"The virus simply went to the fuel that it had remaining," Threlkeld said.

Racial disparities in COVID-19 deaths persist, but have decreased over time. Black, Hispanic and American Indian people are still about twice as likely to die of COVID-19 than white people, but that risk has fallen from about three times higher at the end of 2020.

And white people, who are less likely to be vaccinated than Hispanic people, have accounted for a growing share of deaths recently. An analysis by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that early in the omicron surge, the death rate for Hispanic people remained lower than the rate for white people, but death rates among Black people rose.

And as the virus spread rapidly throughout the country, social determinants of health have started to play a larger role in who becomes seriously ill and dies from COVID-19.

"Delta was much more deadly. But omicron is so widespread," said Dr. Faisal Masud, director of the critical care center at Houston Methodist.

Extremely high transmission rates mean the virus is reaching everyone, but it's hitting those from disadvantaged neighborhoods especially hard, he said. These are the people who are more likely to be uninsured and who may delay care, leaving chronic conditions such as diabetes and hypertension untreated.

"Patients who start with poor health come at a disadvantage," he said.

Texas has reported more COVID-19 deaths than any other state in the past week and is on track to soon outpace California in terms of total COVID-19 deaths. It's important to note the significant differences in health insurance rates and vaccination rates in the two states, Masud said. More than 70% of Californians are fully vaccinated, compared with about 60% of Texans, according to CDC data.

Overall, the proportion of omicron cases that have resulted in deaths appears to be lower than the case-mortality ratio for delta.

But it's a "denominator phenomenon," Threlkeld said, meaning a lower percentage of a much larger number is still going to be large.

"I think that's what people have forgotten: Just because something is a little less likely in a given person to cause severe disease, there are so many more people who've contracted this infection that you're going to have a lot of people who are ill," he said.

"We've certainly seen a lot of unvaccinated people who've done very poorly."

Throughout August, the risk of dying from COVID-19 was 11 times higher for unvaccinated adults than for fully vaccinated adults in the United States, according to new data published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Unvaccinated adults faced a six times higher risk of testing positive for COVID-19 throughout the month, and in the last week of August, the risk of being hospitalized was nearly 19 times higher for unvaccinated adults than fully vaccinated adults.

Related video above: FDA panel endorses booster for Johnson & Johnson vaccine

Some states and local jurisdictions have recently started publishing COVID-19 case, death and hospitalization rates by vaccination status on their own dashboards, and the CDC has been working with health departments to link case surveillance data with immunization information systems for their own analysis.

While the CDC analysis is not fully comprehensive, the data published late Thursday is the first federal look at COVID-19 risks by vaccination status made publicly available with plans for regular updates.

Case data by vaccination status is available from 14 states in all regions of the United States, as well as New York City and Seattle's King County, representing about 30% of the total U.S. population. Death data is available from all but one of those jurisdictions, and hospitalization data is from a different set of 13 states.

The CDC data shows that the risk of death from COVID-19 for unvaccinated adults has dipped in recent weeks as the pace of new cases drops across the country. By the last week of August, COVID-19 death rates among unvaccinated adults were about 30% lower than they were in the first week of the month, dropping from an incidence rate of 13 deaths per 100,000 people to about 9 deaths per 100,000 people.

But since April, the risk for fully vaccinated adults has never been higher than 1.2 deaths per 100,000 people.

Last week, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky noted that there are still pockets of unvaccinated people in the U.S. who are not protected against the virus.

"The virus isn't stupid," she said. "It's going to go there."

While the risk of cases and deaths have dropped, the CDC data also shows that the rate of hospitalizations among unvaccinated adults has continued to climb, up more than 80% from the first week in August to the last.

Risk ratios vary by age group. For example, the rate of COVID-19 hospitalizations among adults under the age of 50 is about 15 times higher for unvaccinated people than for fully vaccinated people. For those aged 50 to 64, the hospitalization rate is 31 times higher for unvaccinated people, and for those aged 65 and older, the hospitalization rate is 16 times higher for unvaccinated people.

"Getting vaccinated for COVID-19 reduces the risk of getting COVID-19 and helps protect you from severe illness even if you do get COVID-19," according to the CDC. The agency is leading studies to continue to monitor vaccine effectiveness and breakthrough cases over time.

A Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) analysis from Wednesday estimates that there were more than 90,000 preventable COVID-19 deaths among unvaccinated adults over the past three months, with more than half of them occurring in September alone.

After falling to the seventh leading cause of death in July, COVID-19 surged back to the second leading cause of death in September, according to KFF. Only heart disease killed more people than COVID-19 in the U.S. in September, and COVID-19 was the top cause of death for adults age 35 to 54 in both August and September.

"With the rapid uptake in vaccinations in the months when vaccines first became widely available, COVID-19 deaths fell sharply," according to KFF. "However, with the more infectious COVID-19 Delta variant, insufficient vaccination rates, and local and state governments easing up social distancing restrictions, COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths increased again."

The following 12 toys are finalists for 2021 induction into The Strong’s National Toy Hall of Fame. Only three will take their honored places in the hall this year when they are announced by The Strong on Thursday, Nov. 4, at 10:30 a.m.“These 12 toys represent the wide scope of playthings — from one of the most universal playthings in the world like sand to a game-changing board game like Risk to the popular adult game of billiards,” said Christopher Bensch, vice president for collections at The Strong. “Whether old or new, for kids or adults, all 12 of these toy finalists greatly influenced the world of play.”American Girl DollsCreated in 1986 by educator and newscaster Pleasant Rowland, the 18-inch American Girl dolls (and their accompanying books) explore America’s social and cultural history. Each doll comes with a unique narrative that fits her era, such as Molly McIntire, who is waiting for her father to return home from World War II. The Pleasant Company released the My American Girl line of dolls in 1995 (originally under the name American Girl Dolls of Today) and designed them to look like their owners. BattleshipOriginally a pencil-and-paper game, Battleship’s inspiration began with similar two-person strategy games in the late 19th century. Various manufacturers printed paper versions beginning in the 1930s and Milton Bradley’s 1967 plastic adaptation became a hit. The game was among the first board games to be computerized in 1979, and today countless electronic versions exist. BilliardsBilliards is a blanket term for many different cue sports, but pool—or pocket billiards—is the most common term in the United States. The game evolved from earlier European outdoor games, like croquet in the 14th and 15th centuries, and became extremely popular in the 1800s. While the dedicated poolhalls of yesteryear may be mostly gone, billiards remains a popular form of adult play in arcades, restaurants, bars, and entertainment centers.Cabbage Patch KidsWhen Cabbage Patch Kids launched in 1979, they offered American children a soft, cuddly playmate in a world of hard toys and cold electronics. Consumers could not get enough of the dolls, each with its own name, its unique, lumpy rounded face, and adoption papers. They became the must-have holiday toy of 1983 and generated massive demand, paving the way for later holiday crazes around Tickle Elmo, Beanie Babies, and Furby. For more than 40 years, these dolls have expanded children’s notions of play and fantasy, of beauty and belonging.Fisher-Price Corn PopperFisher-Price introduced the Corn Popper in 1957, calling it an amusement device for young children. Parents quickly discovered that by pushing the device, children could strengthen gross motor skills, and it has become a staple toy for toddlers ever since. The bright, flying balls and popping sound also help to stimulate the senses, promoting curiosity and discovery.MahjongMahjong (also known as Mah-Jongg) evolved from 18th and 19th-century gambling card games in China. Variations spread to Korea, Japan, and other areas of Asia before becoming popular in the United States in the 1920s. Standard Chinese Mah-Jongg played like American gin rummy but was changed in the 1930s when the National Mah Jongg League established more formal and limited rules. According to the 2021 book Mahjong: A Chinese Game and the Making of Modern American Culture, the game caught on with Hollywood starlets, high-society, middle-class housewives, and immigrants and “signified both belonging and standing apart in American culture.”Masters of the UniverseThe Master of the Universe line of action figures, which includes the iconic He-Man and She-Ra, traces its popularity to maker Mattel’s use of comic books, television, and the big screen. The cartoon series He-Man and the Masters of the Universe, which ran from 1983 to 1985, created a cohesive, fantasy world that allowed Mattel to introduce new characters and new toys to the line. Over the years, Mattel has paired the brand with everything from toothbrushes to sleeping bags.PiñataAs the centerpiece of a party game, a piñata is a paper mâché object filled with small toys, confetti, fruits, candies, or coins and raised high with rope. Both children and adults can play; while blindfolded, players swing a stick and try to break open the piñata and shower guests with the treats inside. Commonly associated with Mexican culture, the object may date back to early 13th-century China. Although there is an inherent impermanence to the piñata as a plaything, it has been and continues to be used in religious and secular celebrations all over the world.RiskBased on the French game Le Conquete du Monde, Risk translates the hobby of wargaming with miniature figures into a mass-produced war and strategy board game. First published in the United States in 1959, Risk challenges players to control armies and conquer the world. The game’s innovative mechanics ignited renewed interest in strategy games in the 1970s and continues to influence the board game industry.SandSand may be the most universal and oldest toy in the world. Educator Maria Montessori has argued that sand “is only one substance that the modern child is allowed to handle quite freely.” Children recognize sand as a creative material suitable for pouring, scooping, sieving, raking, and measuring. Wet sand is even better, ready for kids to construct, shape, and sculpt. Sand provides unique opportunities for tactical, physical, cooperative, creative, and independent free play.The Settlers of CatanThe Settlers of Catan, now called “Catan,” was first published by Kosmos in Germany. It’s one of the first German-style board games to find widespread popularity outside of Europe. It is a cooperative game in which players representing settlers establish a settlement on an island by spending resources, which are earned through trade and rolls of the dice. It’s been called the “game of our time” by the Washington Post, is sold in more than 30 languages, and has won multiple international awards in game design.Toy Fire EngineAlthough toy fire engines have evolved in materials, design, and technology over time, the benefits of play with these vehicles remain the same. A child might use a toy fire engine to explore role playing by assuming the position of a firefighter or person in danger. A child might spin the wheels or extend the ladder to test the capabilities of a toy fire engine. This variety of possibilities allows a child to practice communication skills, cognitive flexibility, and to explore risk, technical competence, and emotional fortitude.