Saturday, 14 August 2021 (YJC)_ The number of children hospitalized with COVID-19 in the United States hit a record high of just over 1,900.
The number of children hospitalized with COVID-19 in the United States hit a record high of just over 1,900 on Saturday, as hospitals across the South were stretched to capacity fighting outbreaks caused by the highly transmissible Delta variant.
he Delta variant, which is rapidly spreading among the unvaccinated portion of the U.S. population, has caused hospitalizations to spike in recent weeks, driving up the number of pediatric hospitalizations to 1,902 on Saturday, according to data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Children currently make up about 2.4% of the nation's COVID-19 hospitalizations. Kids under 12 are not eligible to receive the vaccine, leaving them more vulnerable to infection from the new, highly transmissible variant than they were earlier in the pandemic.
The numbers of newly hospitalized COVID-19 patients aged 18-29, 30-39 and 40-49 also hit record highs this week, according to CDC data.
School districts in Florida, Texas and Arizona have mandated that masks be worn in schools, defying orders from their Republican state governors that ban districts from imposing such rules.
A fifth of the nation's COVID-19 hospitalizations are in Florida, where the number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients hit a record 16,100 on Saturday, according to a Reuters tally. More than 90% of the state's intensive care beds are filled, according to data from the Department of Health and Human Services.
Low vaccination rates have allowed the Delta variant outbreak to accelerate, with some of the highest infection rates and sickest patients concentrated in states where residents have hesitated to get the shot. Just over 50% of the U.S. population is fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.
The U.S. now has an average of about 129,000 new COVID-19 cases per day, a rate that has doubled in a little over two weeks, according to a Reuters tally. The number of hospitalized COVID-19 patients is at a six-month high, and an average of 600 people are dying each day of COVID-19, double the death rate seen in late July.
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