Delta Variant Cases Continue to Grow in the U.S. as Vaccination Rates Decline

With cases of the Coronavirus on the rise again, experts are urging a return to precautions set at the beginning of the pandemic. According to Johns Hopkins University, the rate of new Covid-19 cases in the past week jumped by at least 10% compared to the previous week in 48 states. In 34 of those states, the rate increased by more than 50%.
Doctors in Alabama, Mississippi, Florida and Missouri are also reporting that patients filling hospital beds in their states are younger than before. According to the CDC, only 49.1% of the U.S. population is vaccinated. Many larger cities have reinstated their mask mandates, Los Angeles county being one of them. In California, San Diego and Los Angeles counties have reported their highest case numbers since February and hospitalizations in Los Angeles county have more than doubled in the past 2 weeks with numbers surpassing 700 for the first time since March.

More than 50 health care groups including the American Medical Association, the American College of Physicians, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Public Health Association issued a statement calling for health care and long-term care employers to mandate employees be vaccinated against the virus. The group stated this is “the logical fulfillment of the ethical commitment of all health care workers to put patients as well as residents of long-term care facilities first and take all steps necessary to ensure their health and well-being.”