Mandating vaccinations has been an upsetting topic, Dr. Anthony Fauci acknowledged, but yet should still be a requirement for teachers he said. Dr. Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease doctor, made the comment while speaking on MSNBC, adding that the country is seeing a major surge right as schools are set to reopen. “This is very serious business,” he said according to The Hill.

Fauci’s comments were in response to those of Randi Weingarten, President of the American Federation of Teachers. According to The Hill, Weingarten also said that she supports mandatory vaccinations, saying over the weekend that the federation should “revisit and reconsider our policy that we passed in October about voluntary – to do this was to do it volitionally.” To hear more of Fauci's comments, watch the video below.

Google employees who stay in their same position with the company but switch to remote work full time could see a reduction in pay, according to a Reuters report. This comes on the heels of decisions from Facebook and Twitter which have already cut pay for remote workers who moved to less expensive areas. Reuters reports that Google offers employees a calculator to determine how a relocation could impact their salary. Reuters interviewed several Google employees and found in some cases that workers could see a 25% reduction in pay if they moved from San Francisco to a similarly expensive area such as Lake Tahoe. "Our compensation packages have always been determined by location, and we always pay at the top of the local market based on where an employee works from," a Google spokesperson said.

As the delta variant has caused a surge in cases across the country, the vaccination rate in the United States has spiked to more than 480,000 a day, the highest since June 18. But, in interviews with CNN, many experts say that they would like to see more done to encourage, or even mandate, vaccines as schools across the country reopen for in person instruction. Just over 31% of the vaccine-eligible population remains unvaccinated and rates of hospitalizations and deaths have nearly doubled in the last two weeks.

Dr. Peter Hotez, a vaccinologist and dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine, told CNN that without universal masking and vaccines for eligible students, schools will accelerate the spread of the coronavirus.” We need all of the adolescents vaccinated, and really we need to move towards vaccine mandates for the 12 to 17-year-olds in the schools,” Hotez said.

The United States will send Mexico 8.5 million additional COVID-19 vaccine doses as the delta variant fuels another surge in infections, The Washington Post reported Tuesday. The U.S. will send AstraZeneca and Moderna vaccines, even though the latter hasn’t been approved by Mexican regulators, said Mexican Foreign Affairs Secretary Marcelo Ebrard. At the start of Mexico’s third wave of the pandemic, hospitalizations and deaths lagged, according to the Post. But now, hospitalizations and reported infections are rising. Mexico has received 91.2 million doses of five different vaccines and 27 million people have been fully vaccinated.

As Texas struggles to rein in a surge of the highly contagious delta variant, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has directed the Texas Department of State Health Services to find out-of-state help, The Associated Press reported. Hospitals in parts of the state are struggling to accommodate coronavirus patients — one county-owned hospital in Houston has raised tents to create more bed space, while another transferred some patients out of the city as far as North Dakota to make more space. Abbott also directed the state health department to expand COVID-19 vaccine availability and announced an additional $267 million in emergency food benefits in August. Abbott has refused to lift his emergency order banning local governments from issuing mask mandates, but some are acting in defiance.In Dallas, Austin and Houston, the local school districts have all announced mask mandates for students and staff.

The Dallas Independent School District, the second-largest school district in Texas, will be requiring face masks on district property beginning on Tuesday, superintendent Dr. Michael Hinojosa said at a press conference. According to NBC DFW, Hinojosa added that the district went through with the decision despite the state’s executive order, which prohibits districts from mandating face masks.

"Governor Abbott’s order does not limit the district’s rights as an employer and educational institution to establish reasonable and necessary safety rules for its staff and students," a district statement read. "Dallas ISD remains committed to the safety of our students and staff."

According to a study conducted at UT Southwestern, which Hinojosa referenced in his announcement, if current unmitigated behavior were to continue without social distancing and masking, the number of occupied hospital beds in Dallas County would reach 4,000 by October.

In a study of over 50,000 patients in the Mayo Clinic Health System, the Moderna vaccine was found to be 76% effective at preventing hospitalizations from the delta variant while the Pfizer vaccine’s effectiveness had fallen to 42%, Reuters reported. The researchers say the data suggests that a Moderna booster shot may be necessary earlier for those who received either of the vaccines earlier this year. In another study, residents at an Ontario nursing home produced stronger immune responses to variants after the Moderna vaccine compared to the Pfizer vaccine.

"We continue to believe... a third dose booster may be needed within 6 to 12 months after full vaccination to maintain the highest levels of protection,” a Pfizer spokesperson told Reuters.

Sydney, Australia's largest city by population with more than 5 million residents, is currently dealing with its worst outbreak of the pandemic. According to Reuters, while the entire city is under lockdown, the experience is different for many in the area. In the wealthy suburb of Bondi Beach, many still flock outdoors to exercise and surf. But in the western area of the city, which is more ethnically diverse and where the number of new infections is higher, it's a bit of a different story. There, many stores and streets are empty, with the exception of members of the Australian army who are helping enforce the lockdown. In this area, many are banned from even leaving their homes, Reuters said. "The community here is really struggling at the moment and they feel there's a double standard," said Bilal El-Hayek, a councilor in the western parts of Sydney. "You see photos and videos coming out of the east, people on the beach, whereas here the streets are absolutely empty," he said. Watch the video below for more.

Anthony Fauci, the U.S.’ top infectious disease doctor, said that immunocompromised people should get coronavirus booster shots soon to curb the spread of the ongoing pandemic, Bloomberg reported. Those with weakened immune systems -- including chemotherapy and transplant patients -- never received sufficient protection from the vaccine, Fauci explained. “I think we should be addressing the issue of getting them an extra shot quickly,” he said. When asked about the World Health Organization’s moratorium on booster shots, Fauci said that the U.S. could do more to support middle and low-income countries, but the country can simultaneously work to protect Americans.

Watch the video for more:

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, who has recovered from the coronavirus for the second time, is noncommittal about whether he will get vaccinated, ESPN reported. Jackson said that he will talk to the team’s doctors and make his own choice. "I got to talk to my team about this and see how they feel about it. Keep learning as much as I can about it. We'll go from there." Both times Jackson tested positive, he was symptomatic, and the symptoms were bad enough to lead Jackson to say that he “wouldn’t wish [COVID-19] on anyone,” last December. More than 90% of Jackson’s teammates are vaccinated.

The U.S. recorded another day of high case transmission on Monday, totaling 184,347 new COVID-19 infections. It marked the third day since July 30 that the country topped the 180,000 case mark, a threshold that hadn’t previously been topped since Jan. 21. The country also reported 492 fatalities from the virus. Over 10% of those fatalities came from Alabama alone, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. For a look at totals from around the world, watch the video below.

With more than 660 colleges and universities across the United States mandating vaccinations for students, a market for fake vaccine cards is also growing, The Associated Press reported. One Instagram account says it will sell laminated vaccine cards for $25 each, another Telegram user says that they are selling “COVID-19 Vaccine Cards Certificates” for up to $200. Schools like UNC-Chapel Hill and the University of Michigan have said they have not seen any forging of vaccination records, but Benjamin Mason Meier, a global health policy professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, is uncertain if schools will truly be able to tell the difference between a real and fake vaccine card. “The United States, unlike most countries which have electronic systems in place, is basing its vaccination on a flimsy paper card,” Meier said.

More than just tequila shots are being offered at LIV, a star-studded nightclub in South Beach that has hosted Super Bowl champions. As COVID-19 cases skyrocket across the Sunshine State, clubs LIV and STORY are hoping to inspire their often younger crowds vaccinated by offering free vaccines, The Associated Press reported. Florida reported a record high number of coronavirus cases and hospitalizations on Friday, with just under 24,000 cases. “We want to stay open, and we know the only way to make that happen is if people get vaccinated, so we want to make it as accessible as possible,” nightclub owner David Grutman said.

A saliva-based COVID-19 test currently under development at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology will not only tell you if you have COVID-19, but which variant you have, HealthDay News reported. While there is currently no plan to commercialize the test, it could cost as little as $3 per test while performing just as well than a standard PCR test. "Several at-home tests are available for telling you whether you have COVID-19, but none of them test for variants," said study author Dr. Xiao Tan, a clinical fellow at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University. "Theoretically, you could find out you are positive for COVID-19, but negative for Delta all at once," Tan said. 

The European Union’s coronavirus vaccination drive has caught up with that of the United States, The Associated Press reported. The U.S.’ campaign slowed, which contributed to the latest surge in cases in the country. Back in mid-February, 4% of those in the EU were at least partially vaccinated, compared with nearly 12% in the U.S., according to Our World in Data, an online science publication linked to the University of Oxford. Now, the EU has forged ahead -- with 60% of residents with at least one dose, compared to less than 58% of Americans. “I said that I don’t want to celebrate successes, but it must be said that Italy has inoculated more doses per 100 inhabitants than France, Germany, the United States,” Italian Premier Mario Draghi said as the country’s vaccine verification program went into effect Friday.

Less than 3% of newborns tested positive for COVID-19, a study out of Canada has shown. Testing 6,176 infants, the researchers’ found that 177 babies in Ontario hospitals tested positive. According to the study, the median age for detecting the virus was 108 days old, CNN reported, and fewer than 12 of the infant patients tested positive around the time of birth. According to CNN, over half of the infected infants had mothers who also tested positive for COVID-19.

As the delta variant drives a surge in cases across the country, kids are getting infected at higher rates, with some being hospitalized, NBC News reported. The surge in pediatric coronavirus cases is made worse by an unusual spike in typically wintertime respiratory illnesses among kids, further burdening hospitals. At the pediatric intensive care unit at the Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Hospital in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where COVID-19 is surging, Dr. Kelechi Iheagwara has treated kids as young as 3 weeks old.

“It is scary, especially for kids who don’t fully understand what’s going on. They’re air hungry, struggling for breath, and it’s just scary,” said Dr. Iheagwara. Many of the doctors that spoke with NBC News said that they are seeing unvaccinated parents spread the virus to their kids. “We see it often within households, parents to children,” said Dr. Jim Versalovic, the chief pathologist and interim chief pediatrician at Texas Children’s Hospital in Houston.

New York Yankees first baseman Anthony Rizzo became the fourth Yankee to test positive for COVID-19 in the past week when his positive test was announced this weekend. The recently acquired slugger was dealing with symptoms, manager Aaron Boone told reporters on Saturday. According to ABC News, the team outbreak occurred after the squad returned from a six-game stretch in Florida against the Tampa Bay Rays and the Miami Marlins. “I think a lot came out of Florida where we were in this wave of them,” Boone said. “It’s a little of you don’t know when and where it’s spreading.”

U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams says Norwegian Cruise Lines can ask passengers to show proof of vaccination, Reuters reported. The ruling deals a major blow to the efforts by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to forbid vaccine passports in his state; DeSantis argued that Florida law prevents discrimination and protects privacy when it forbids proof of vaccination in return for service. Williams said that DeSantis’ vaccine passport ban jeopardizes public health and unconstitutionally infringes Norwegian’s rights. Norwegian had argued that the ban on vaccine checks violated their First Amendment right to interact with customers. "We are pleased that Judge Williams saw the facts, the law and the science as we did and granted the Company's motion for preliminary injunction allowing us to operate cruises from Florida with 100% vaccinated guests and crew," the company's executive vice president Daniel S. Farkas said in a statement.

With the COVID-19 delta variant rippling across the country, all U.S. military members will now be required to be vaccinated against the virus by mid-September, according to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, in a memo to troops. NBC News reported that the deadline could be moved up if the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gives final approval to the Pfizer vaccine. The move follows President Joe Biden asking federal employees to disclose their vaccination status, and for those who weren’t fully vaccinated to continue to wear a face covering and socially distance from others. Over 1 million members of the military are already fully vaccinated with another roughly 200,000 partially vaccinated, according to data from the Department of Defense.

The pandemic has upended many corporate leaders’ plans to return to the office after Labor Day, the Wall Street Journal reported. Now, many prominent companies are betting on a return to the office in 2022. Amazon has delayed the return of corporate employees to the office until at least Jan. 3, Lyft has pushed its reopening until February 2022 and Dell Technologies has not set a reopening date. In a memo to employees Tuesday, Dell Chief Operating Officer Jeff Clarke said that the spread of the delta variant has made Dell believe a return to the office would be unsafe. “We expect this trend to continue for the next several months,” Clarke said. Companies that are going ahead with their reopening, like Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase & Co., are reinstating mask mandates.

As coronavirus cases in Louisiana continue to surge, the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival has pulled the plug on its fall 2021 dates, The Hollywood Reporter reported. The festival, which was also canceled last year after, had been scheduled to run from Oct. 8-17 this year. In a statement, the organizers cited “the current exponential growth of new COVID cases in New Orleans and the region” as well as the “ongoing public health emergency” as reasons for the fest’s cancelation. Ticketholders for the festival will be refunded. In 2022, the festival plans to return to its usual timeframe in the spring and is currently set to start on April 29.

For the first time since March 2020, Canada will lift its ban on Americans crossing the border, as long as they are fully vaccinated and test negative for COVID-19, The Associated Press reported. Travelers will also need to register to cross the border. The border is still closed to Canadians entering the United States, though, until at least Aug. 21. Carroll Solomon, a resident of Blaine, Washington, near the U.S.-Canada border, called the reopening a big step for local businesses but said the stringent requirements for crossing the border will still limit travel. “I have a lot of friends on the Canadian side and would love to go have lunch with somebody, but you can’t just do that; you have to plan days in advance to make sure you can get through,” Solomon said. Americans returning from Canada will not need to show proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test upon their reentry.

School districts in the Atlanta area have collectively reported more than 400 coronavirus cases this week, WSB-TV Atlanta reported. In Cobb County, just northwest of Atlanta, more than 185 new coronavirus cases were reported during the first week of classes. To Atlanta’s northeast, in Gwinnett County, 166 new coronavirus cases were reported in just two days. In the distant suburbs of Newton County, more than 80 cases were confirmed, and 200 students were placed in quarantine during the first week of school. On Friday, in response to the rise in cases, the Newton County Schools superintendent imposed a temporary mask mandate. "This decision was not taken lightly," said Superintendent Samantha Fuhrey. “We tried the mask-optional status but now must revert to requiring mask usage due to the considerable spike in cases." Just 33% of Newton County has been vaccinated, according to Fox 5 Atlanta.

With milder symptoms such as sinus congestion, runny nose or a sore throat, Louisiana State Health Officer Joe Kanter told The Hill that the delta variant can easily be mistaken for seasonal allergies or another common illness because of how its symptoms differ from original COVID-19. According to researchers involved with the ZOE COVID Symptom Study, excessive sneezing is another common delta symptom.

“You can present with relatively mild symptoms that you can easily confuse for allergies or something that you picked up from your kid who is in daycare, all of those things,” Kanter told The Hill. “If you have any symptoms, no matter how mild, even if it is a sore throat, even if it is a runny nose, even if it is sinus congestion, go get yourself tested and limit your contact with other people until you do so.”

Bulgarian Defense Minister Krasimir Karakachanov, left, coughs into his hand during a meeting with Secretary of Defense Mark Esper at the Pentagon, Tuesday, Oct. 6, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

“If Florida was another country, we would have to consider banning travel from Florida to the United States,” Dr. Jonathan Reiner told CNN’s Jim Acosta while speaking on CNN. The medical analyst added that there are only two places in the world with a viral load higher than the Sunshine State: Louisiana and Botswana. Speaking with Acosta about recent comments made by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, whose state is responsible for over 50% of the country’s current infections, Reiner said DeSantis needs to “back off a little bit and ask localities to mask up.”

“I’ve said this before, if you are in Florida now and you are unvaccinated, you are very likely going to get COVID,” he said. “If you are in Florida and you are unvaccinated, do not go into a bar or a restaurant. You will absolutely contract this virus.”

The coronavirus pandemic is not coming to an end soon, as only a small proportion of the world population has been vaccinated, according to epidemiologist Dr. Larry Brilliant. Brilliant, who was part of the World Health Organization's team that helped eradicate smallpox, said that the delta variant could be the “most contagious virus” ever, CNBC reported. Even so, messenger RNA vaccines and the Johnson & Johnson shot are protecting against the delta variant, Brilliant told CNBC’s “Street Signs.” However, more than 100 countries have vaccinated less than 5% of their populations and only 15% of the world population has been vaccinated. “I think we’re closer to the beginning than we are to the end [of the pandemic], and that’s not because the variant that we’re looking at right now is going to last that long,” said Brilliant, who is now the founder and CEO of a pandemic response consultancy, Pandefense Advisory.

After soaring back over the 10% threshold on Aug. 2, the United States' seven-day average positivity rate has remained over 10% for the past week as cases continue to spike. According to data from Johns Hopkins University, the nation recorded nearly 70,000 new cases over the weekend after reporting over 250,000 new infections on Friday alone, a disparity largely due to different reporting techniques used by different states. Over 134,000 of those cases came just from Florida, who only reports new cases once per week.

Prior to this past week’s positivity rate spike, the U.S. hadn’t seen its rate top 10% since Jan. 20. For a broader look at case totals from around the globe, watch the video below.

As the delta variant fuels the latest coronavirus surge, more than 1,000 cases of the lambda variant have been identified in the United States, CNN reported. In the U.S., there have been 1,060 reported cases of the lambda variant, which the World Health Organization recognizes as a “variant of interest.” Meanwhile, the delta variant, which accounts for 83% of new cases in the U.S., is a “variant of concern,” according to the WHO. The lambda variant was first identified in Peru in December and “is not nearly as worrisome” as the delta variant, according to CNN. "Lambda has mutations that are concerning but this variant remains quite rare in the US despite being around for several months," according to Dr. Preeti Malani, chief health officer in the division of infectious diseases at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

For the fourth consecutive week, thousands in France took to the streets Saturday to protest a pandemic health pass requirement, NPR reported. The French government issued a notice on July 29 that required residents to present the pass in order “to access leisure and culture venues and events bringing together more than 50 people." Starting Monday, the passes will be required to enter bars, restaurants and malls. The pass is also required for long-distance travel on trains, planes or buses.

To secure a health pass, individuals must present proof of vaccination, a negative coronavirus test in the past 48 hours or proof that one has recovered from the virus for at least 15 days, but not more than six months. President Emmanuel Macron, who championed the initiative, hopes that the rules will help to curb the highly transmissible delta variant. Despite the protests, polls show that most people in France are in favor of the passes.

Louisiana is leading the nation in an eruption of new COVID-19 cases fueled by the delta variant, Vox reported Saturday. Cases have increased by 91% over the past 14 days, according to the New York Times. Just 37.3% of its residents have been vaccinated, making it the fifth least vaccinated state in the country. Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards reinstated the indoor mask mandate Monday amid the crisis, adding that “[i]t has become extremely clear that our current recommendations on their own are not strong enough to deal with Louisiana’s fourth surge of COVID.” The mask mandate was met with backlash, especially as students prepare to return to school. “Things are, if anything, worse today than they were on Monday. Unfortunately, the eyes of the nation are on Louisiana right now,” the governor said at a Friday press conference.

Italy is requiring a COVID-19 “Green Pass” for those attending the indoor sections of restaurants and bars, theaters, indoor pools and archaeological sites, The Associated Press reported Friday. To obtain the pass, individuals must show that they have at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine approved for use in the European Union, recovered from the virus in the past six months or returned negative test results in the past 48 hours. Some 50 million of Italy’s 60 million residents had downloaded the certificate by late July, according to the AP. Tourists from the U.S., Canada, Japan and Israel can present vaccination certifications issued from their respective countries. “It is good for everybody’s safety. It is positive for the economy, too,″ French tourist Alexine Prentignac told the AP.

Despite surging coronavirus cases, thousands of bikers gathered in Sturgis, South Dakota, for the annual 10-day Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, CBS News reported Saturday. The rally began Friday as the delta variant fuels the latest spike in coronavirus cases. Cases spiked nearly 70% in the days before the rally, according to CBS. Neither masks nor proof of vaccination was required. Last year’s rally was deemed a superspreader event, according to CBS. "We're not going to start checking papers. I mean, that's not really an American way," said Daniel Ainslie, Sturgis city manager.

Correction: A previous version of this entry incorrectly stated that the rally was taking place in South Carolina. The rally is taking place in South Dakota.

Extra coronavirus shots are expected to be authorized soon to ensure they are protected against the highly contagious delta variant, The Washington Post reported. Federal officials who spoke to the Post on the condition of anonymity say that the authorization could happen in the next week or two. More than 7 million adults in the United States are immunocompromised, a condition that makes them more likely to experience a serious coronavirus infection. “It is extremely important for us to move to get those individuals their boosters and we are now working on that,” Anthony S. Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said Thursday. Other countries are already offering a third vaccine dose for the immunocompromised or have announced plans to, including Israel, France, Hungary and Britain.

China has reported its highest number of new coronavirus cases since an outbreak began in late July, Reuters reported Friday. Of the 124 new cases reported, 80 were locally transmitted. China does not record symptomless cases in its tally. A significant number of the new infections were reported in the provincial city of Yangzhou, and China is taking aggressive measures to keep the virus within the city’s borders, banning intercity taxi rides and suspending domestic flights. Since July 20, when the first cases in the new outbreak were recorded in Nanjing, locally-transmitted cases of the coronavirus have been found in just under 40 cities.

Intensive care beds at Barcelona’s Hospital del Mar are full as a fresh surge of the coronavirus is straining the region’s healthcare system, AFP reported. Catalonia, in Spain’s northeast, is the epicenter of a surge in cases blamed on the highly contagious delta variant. “The situation is critical, it is more like the first wave, and we are overwhelmed," said ICU nurse supervisor Desiree Ruiz. “The staff are exhausted. There are those who needed psychological help." Nearly half of Catalonia’s ICU beds are occupied by coronavirus patients, most of whom are younger and unvaccinated.

The London Pride parade, an event that attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors each year, will be canceled for the second year in a row due to the ongoing pandemic, organizers recently announced. Executive director Christopher Joell-Deshields said in a video statement that the event would have been unable to work through “the level of mitigation expected from the local publish health team and the Government,” UK’s Planet Radio reported.

“It would have meant losing the crucial parade and reducing the event to just two or three stages scattered across central London with limited tickets,” Joell-Deshields said. “This goes against everything we want Pride in London to be, all that we have been so far.”

Amazon is postponing its return to the office for corporate employees until January 2022 as the coronavirus delta variant spreads, CNBC reported. Amazon had said it expected most of its employees to return to the office in September 2021. In recent weeks, other companies including Google, Facebook, Apple and Twitter adjusted their return to work due to rising COVID-19 cases. Unlike Google and Facebook, Amazon is not requiring vaccination for employees. Still, the company will require employees to wear masks in the office unless they show proof of vaccination.

As cases in California increase at their fastest rate since the start of the pandemic, California is implementing what it calls a “first in the nation” requirement that healthcare workers be vaccinated against COVID-19, NPR reported. Paid and unpaid workers in health care facilities must be fully vaccinated by Sept. 30. "Recent outbreaks in health care settings have frequently been traced to unvaccinated staff members," the California Department of Public Health said in a statement. Those with a qualifying medical condition or religious beliefs that prevent them from getting vaccinated will be excused from the requirement but will get tested at least twice a week and must wear a mask at all times.

Passengers wait in a long line to get a COVID-19 test to travel overseas at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport, Friday, Aug. 6, 2021, in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Recent flight cancelations caused many passengers to redo their tests while others were unable to get the test locally due to long lines caused by the surge of the Delta variant. (AP Photo/Marta Lavandier)

The daily average of new coronavirus cases in the U.S. has reached 100,000, the highest the average has been since this past winter, The Associated Press reported. The rapid rise in cases is due to the spread of the highly infectious delta variant officials say, and there is mounting concern that hospitalizations and deaths will continue to rise if vaccination rates lag. “Our models show that if we don’t (vaccinate people), we could be up to several hundred thousand cases a day, similar to our surge in early January,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Rochelle Walensky said on CNN, according to the AP. According to Johns Hopkins University, more than 820,000 vaccine doses were administered across the country on Friday and 51% of the U.S. is now fully vaccinated. Watch the video below for more on the spread of the virus worldwide.

Following in the footsteps of large tech companies, United has announced that it will mandate a vaccine for all U.S. employees, CNBC reported. The company has set a deadline for late September, though the date could shift further back depending on full approval of the vaccine. Religious and medical exemptions will be considered, though non-compliant workers will be fired. Already, 90% of the airline's pilots and 80% of the flight attendants are vaccinated. United CEO Scott Kirby announced the decision in a memo to employees. “Over the last 16 months, Scott has sent dozens of condolences letters to the family members of United employees who have died from COVID-19,” the memo reads. “We’re determined to do everything we can to keep another United family from receiving that letter.” Watch the video below for more.

Over 943,000 new jobs were added by U.S. employers in July, far exceeding predictions from economists and dropping the unemployment rate to 5.4% in the process. According to The Associated Press, the Labor Department data comes from mid-July, however, prior to the reversed recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention regarding vaccinated employees returning to work with masks. The Labor Department data showed that 327,000 of those jobs were added to the hospitality sector, thanks to the bounce backs from hotels and restaurants. The AP also reported that the number of people who reported they had a job surged by 1 million in July, the most since October.

A civil court inThailand blocked an order from the government that would restrict reporting on COVID-19 on Friday. According to The Hill, the order was initially issued in late July and would ban spreading information that would instill fear in the public or “distorted information” that could lead to misunderstandings and impact “national stability.” The nations’ government stated that the order was an attempt to prevent the spread of fake news, but critics of the ban feared it would silence critics of the government’s response to the pandemic. Twelve organizations filed a petition against the order, which eventually led to the civil court blocking the enforcement of it from the government.

Quarterback Lamar Jackson and running back Gus Edwards have both been activated off the Ravens' reserve/COVID-19 list, ESPN reported. Jackson and Edwards, both of whom tested positive for the coronavirus, missed ten days of training camp, the standard rule for unvaccinated players. This was Jackson’s second time testing positive for the coronavirus. Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan personally encouraged Jackson to get the vaccine, reported WBAL TV. “With the rules the NFL put down, I can’t imagine a team wanting to forfeit a game or lose a chance at the playoffs and none of the players getting paid because someone won’t get a vaccine,” Hogan said.

Florida reported more than 22,700 cases on Friday, breaking a record that was set just last Sunday, the Miami Herald reported. The state also broke its hospitalization record for the fifth day in a row and reported 199 new deaths. The surge in cases has caused some hospitals to pause elective surgeries, while ambulances are being diverted away from some overloaded hospitals. The surge in cases has led President Joe Biden to implore Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to either help, or “get out of the way of people who are trying to do the right thing,” the Guardian reported. DeSantis issued an executive order banning public schools from instituting mask mandates and has stated his refusal to consider new coronavirus restrictions.

All five boroughs of New York City are experiencing “high transmission,” according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Confirmed and probable cases are up 25% in the city compared to the prior week, according to NBC News York. Still, there are some glimmers of optimism, according to the local outlet. Daily new case totals dropped a bit this week after weeks of increases. Vaccinations are also increasing. But Mayor Bill de Blasio and other city leaders have made it clear that the fight against the delta variant isn’t over.

According to monthly unemployment data that was released on Friday, businesses in the U.S. are adapting to the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Almost 1 million more jobs were created and the unemployment rate has reached a new low for the pandemic, according to Market Watch. Despite the growing prominence of the delta variant in the U.S., officials have hesitated to reinstate lockdown restrictions that would negatively impact the economy. “We do not expect state authorities to implement another wave of Covid-19 restrictions, beyond mask mandates or capacity restrictions for some businesses,” Cailin Birch, global economist at The Economist Intelligence Unit, said. “This will help to minimize the impact of the latest case surge on economic activity and job creation.” The vaccination rate in the nation is a key reason why restrictions are not being reinstated, Market Watch reports. “This is not March 2020, or even January 2021,” White House spokesperson Jen Psaki said. “We’re not going to lock down our economy or our schools because our country is in a much stronger place than when we took office.”

The nation of Japan reached the unwanted milestone of 1 million total COVID-19 cases on Friday, fueled by a week of record-breaking figures out of the capital city of Tokyo. Currently hosting the Summer Olympics, Tokyo recorded 4,515 new infections on Friday, the city’s second-highest mark after Thursday’s 5,042. According to Reuters, the nearby prefecture of Kanagawa has seen its cases quadruple in less than two weeks, topping more than 2,000 new infections.

"We need to take into account local conditions. Each region can take their own step," Japan Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga told reporters, before reiterating that he does not consider the Olympic Games to be a contributing factor to the climbing case numbers.

As Japan pushes to tamp down its coronavirus outbreak, the government is testing a new tactic: public shaming, The New York Times reported. Japan’s health ministry released the names of those who broke COVID-19 rules after returning from overseas. An official statement identified three people who the statement says clearly acted to avoid contact with the authorities. All of them tested negative for the virus at the airport but failed to report their health condition and did not respond to location-monitoring apps or video calls from the health authorities, which is required under the country’s COVID-19 protocols, according to the Times.

After three CNN employees returned to the office without a coronavirus vaccine, the network promptly fired them, AFP reported. CNN policy states that vaccination is mandatory for field reporters, those who work with other employees or enter offices in person. "Let me be clear -- we have a zero-tolerance policy on this," CNN President Jeff Zucker wrote in an internal email. In the email, Zucker added that CNN will join a litany of companies postponing their return-to-office date. CNN is hardly the only major employer asking employees to get vaccinated. Companies like Facebook, Google and Microsoft have all set vaccination requirements. In May, the United States federal government announced it was legal for employers to require a COVID-19 vaccination for in-office employees.

FILE- This Jan. 17, 2001 file photo shows pedestrians entering CNN Center, the headquarters for CNN, in downtown Atlanta. CNN has fired three employees for violating its policy that employees must be vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus. The firings were revealed Thursday, Aug. 5, 2021 as part of a memo sent by Jeff Zucker, chairman of WarnerMedia news and sports. (AP Photo/Ric Feld, File)

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, Yahoo! Finance says it has shifted homebuyers’ out of densely populated areas and toward less populated metropolitan areas. Specifically, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ontario in California; Lakeland and Winter Haven in Florida; and Myrtle Beach, Conway and North Myrtle Beach, in the Carolinas made the top three metro areas for inbound residents, according to CoreLogic’s “2020’s Hottest Cities for Homebuyers” report.Three of the top metros with the most outbound residents were New York City, Newark and Jersey City in New York and New Jersey; Los Angeles, Long Beach and Anaheim in California; and San Francisco, Oakland and Berkeley in California.

“We are seeing a reshuffling,” Frank Nothaft, chief economist at CoreLogic, told Yahoo! Finance. “People are moving to areas of lower population and lower cost of living.” He added that the pandemic had “severed” the need for employees to live near their place of employment, though the shift toward cheaper locations began long before COVID-19 took hold. Still, it had accelerated that shift.

After England reopened amid a surge of the COVID-19 delta variant, coronavirus cases fell. As the U.S. battles its own surge of the variant, the U.K.'s battle with the variant might offer a light at the end of the tunnel for other countries, NBC News reported. British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s decision to reopen might have paid off, since cases began to fall in mid-July. More than 88% of adults in the U.K. have received at least one dose of the vaccine. In the U.S., about 70% of adults have received one dose -- with rates much lower in Southern states, including Alabama, Missouri and Georgia. "Many people in the U.S. and Europe are following very closely the situation in the U.K.," said Francois Balloux, a biosciences professor at University College London.

For the first time since early February, the United States has had a week with over 100,000 on at least three separate days. On Thursday, the U.S. recorded 109,824 new infections and 535 fatalities from the virus, according to figures from Johns Hopkins University. Texas, California and Florida combined to contribute nearly 50,000 of the U.S. infections. For a broader look at cases from around the world, watch the video below.

Despite being linked to coronavirus spread last summer, the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally is back on and bigger than ever, The Associated Press reported. The typically sleepy South Dakota town of Sturgis, population 7,000, is expected to host one-hundred times that number of people this week. "The rally is a behemoth, and you cannot stop it," said Carol Fellner, a local who worries that the gathering this year will cause an outbreak of cases. "I feel absolutely powerless."

Last year, the motorcycle rally was linked to at least 649 cases and one death, with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention saying the rally “had many characteristics of a superspreading event." Large outdoor gatherings have been tied to the spread of the coronavirus, although outdoor events are widely considered to be safer than indoor ones. Nearly 500 coronavirus cases may be tied to outdoor celebrations at the NBA’s Milwaukee Bucks championship parade, The Hill reported.

A high school student studying automotive technology and an employee of a small publishing and software company are the latest winners of the Massachusetts VaxMillions Giveaway, The Associated Press reported. Dylan Barron of Norwood, who will be a junior this fall at Blue Hills Regional Technical School in Canton, won the $300,000 college scholarship for residents ages 12 to 17. Barron, who is still deciding on his college plans, said he got vaccinated to keep his friends, family and others safe. Donna McNulty, of Billerica, won the $1 million prize for adults and got vaccinated to protect herself, and a friend who is at high-risk for COVID-19 due to underlying health conditions.

The Carnival Vista cruise ship has reported a “small number” of positive COVID-19 cases on board after departing Galveston, Texas. The amount of positive cases was not announced, but after they were reported, the cruise line instated a new masking policy on board, ABC 13 reported. "Our pre-established protocols of vaccinated guests and crew, testing, enhanced medical capabilities and contact tracing anticipated the potential for positive cases, and they are designed to adapt to various scenarios," a statement from the cruise line read. "We have identified and tested close contacts and anyone who tested positive is in isolation.” Despite multiple people testing positive for the virus, the cruise will continue as planned.

CVS Health has stopped offering Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose COVID-19 vaccine in its pharmacies, save for roughly 10% of its locations, CNBC reported. It will continue to offer the two-dose vaccines by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna nationwide. In response to the change, J&J issued a statement, including stressing that evidence from their ENSEMBLE study demonstrated the efficacy of their single-shot vaccine, including against viral variants. While the vaccine had previously been praised as a game-changer for its convenience through being a single-dose shot and ability to be stored with ease, its popularity never quite recovered after federal health officials paused administration of the vaccine in April due to concerns over blood clots.

While the pause only lasted 10 days, skepticism remained. “I think the public hears that the vaccine is taken off the market for a period of time and it is just hard to get past that scarlet letter,” Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, told CNBC. As of Tuesday, about 13.5 million doses of the J&J vaccine have been administered compared to the 333.6 million doses of Pfizer and Moderna’s vaccines, according to data compiled by the CDC.

France, Germany and Israel will move ahead with COVID-19 booster shot plans, despite the World Health Organization’s moratorium on booster shots at least through September, Reuters reported. The decision highlights the inequities in pandemic responses across the world. French President Emmanuel Macron said France is working on rolling out third doses to vulnerable people in September.

Germany’s health ministry said the country plans to give booster shots to immunocompromised patients, elderly and nursing home patients in September. Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennet urged those older than 60 to get their third doses. Still, WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said it was unacceptable for wealthy countries to use more of the global vaccine supply. "I understand the concern of all governments to protect their people from the Delta variant. But we cannot accept countries that have already used most of the global supply of vaccines using even more of it," Tedros said.

As the delta variant surges across the U.S., Moderna has released data about the efficacy of its vaccine well after the second dose has been administered. According to a statement from the company that was released on Thursday, the Moderna mRNA vaccine has an efficacy of 93% after six months, U.S. News reported. Moderna has also been testing booster shots geared toward variants of the virus, and a phase two study showed “robust antibody responses to COVID-19 variants of concern.” However, the company did not indicate when a booster shot would become available to the general public.

Passengers in protective suits and face masks sit on a plane in Hanoi, Vietnam, Friday, Feb. 12, 2020. A fresh COVID-19 outbreak in Vietnam has slowed down business and travel during the popular lunar new year festival. (AP Photo/Hau Dinh)

Travel to and from the U.S. has been restricted since the start of the pandemic, and now travelers may need to show proof of vaccination before entering the country. In a step toward opening up the border, President Joe Biden may soon announce that foreign visitors need to be vaccinated, The Associated Press reported. It is unclear when this would go into effect, but people that are unvaccinated that plan on traveling to the U.S. would need to take weeks to go through the vaccination process to be considered fully vaccinated. Currently, all people entering the U.S. need to show proof of a negative COVID-19 test regardless of vaccination status, the AP said.

Millions of Americans roll up their sleeves every year to get a flu shot ahead of cold and flu season, but new research has found that it could have more benefits than previously thought. A study analyzed medical records of nearly 75,000 people who tested positive for COVID-19 and found that those who had received a flu shot in the previous six months were less likely to have serious complications from the coronavirus, ABC News reported. However, the study noted that getting the flu shot does not mean that recipients are protected against contracting COVID-19. Researchers found that people that did not receive a flu shot and contracted COVID-19 were 58% more likely to visit the emergency room, ABC News said. Participants in the study were from around the world, including the U.S., U.K., Germany, Italy, Singapore and Israel.

Cases in Tokyo are rising as the Olympics continue, with 5,042 cases reported on Thursday, The Associated Press reported. Measures to curb the pandemic, including shorter opening hours for stores and no sales of alcohol at bars and restaurants, are increasingly being ignored. “The infections are expanding at a pace we have never experienced before,” Prime Minister Yosihide Suga told reporters. Nationwide, the country reported 14,000 new cases on Wednesday. Experts fear many are not cooperating with the restrictions due to pandemic apathy and the Olympics. As hospital beds in Tokyo begin to crowd, Suga’s government announced that patients with moderate symptoms must isolate at home instead of in hospitals.

New cases of COVID-19 across the U.S. topped 90,000 for the third day in a row as the delta variant continues to spread across the country, according to data gathered by Johns Hopkins University. This is up dramatically when compared to just one month ago when the U.S. was averaging around 15,000 new cases every day, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The U.S. also reported 490 new coronavirus-related fatalities on Wednesday. Watch the video below for more details about vaccinations and the spread of the virus around the world.

Children are hospitalized in ICUs with COVID-19 as the delta variant sparks a surge in cases, according to local news station KSAT in San Antonio, Texas. Leaders announced that an 11-month-old with the coronavirus was admitted to the ICU at University Hospital and that a 4-year-old was on a ventilator in the ICU at the Children’s Hospital of San Antonio. Dr. Charles Hankins, chief medical officer of CHRISTUS Health, added that in previous surges, about 2% to 3% of child hospitalizations were coronavirus-related, but now, that figure has grown to 10%. “It definitely seems to be attacking these children differently, so more aggressive. So it not only spreads more easily but for the population of children, it also seems to be more aggressive,” Hankins said.

Utah Sen. Mitt Romney says that the approval of booster shots needs to be sped up, Deseret News reported. Romney’s call to make booster shots available comes a day after the World Health Organization urged countries to place a moratorium on booster shots until vaccine distribution worldwide is equitable. Regardless, Romney still seems to believe the U.S. should act, noting that many people would line up for a booster. “If COVID with variants becomes a multi-year reality, we (the @US_FDA) will need to move even faster to approve boosters and vaccines—especially if they are already tested and approved in other countries, as with the booster given today in Israel.” Romney tweeted Monday. No states are giving residents booster shots, but there are anecdotal reports of Americans getting extra shots by feigning their vaccination status.

It’s no secret that the United States has been one of the hardest-hit nations from COVID-19, but within the U.S., one population has been dealt a particularly severe blow – the white-tailed deer. According to Nature.com, findings from a recent publication show that one-third of all white-tailed deer in the Northeast have previously been infected with the coronavirus, evidenced by antibodies found in the animals. According to virologist Arinjay Banerjee, the results represent the first proof of widespread exposure in a population of wild animals. Banerjee added that it remains a mystery as to how the deer were exposed in the first place.

Vaccinated or not, all personnel on military bases must return to wearing masks in the parts of the U.S. where the delta variant has spread most rapidly. These bases include Fort Campbell in Kentucky, Fort Carson in Colorado, Fort Hood and Fort Bliss in Texas, Fort Pendleton in California and Fort Bragg in North Carolina, according to Military.com. "Getting vaccinated and wearing a mask are our only pathways for bases to return to normalcy," Brig. Gen. Jason Woodworth of Camp Pendleton said on Friday. In Coryell County, Texas, where Fort Hood is located, only 37% of the population has received a dose of the vaccine, far below the national average of 57%.

San Francisco is offering “supplemental” doses of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccine to those who received the Johnson & Johnson shot, The Hill reported. The city’s health department said that it and Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital were “accommodating special requests” from people who got the Johnson & Johnson but also want an mRNA shot after speaking with their doctor. The agency declined to call the second shot a “booster,” noting that the additional mRNA shot does not constitute a policy change. City health director Naveena Bobba said the accommodation has been in effect prior to Tuesday, according to The Hill. Data released last month shows that the Johnson & Johnson vaccine was less effective in protecting against the delta variant in comparison to mRNA vaccines. The company maintains that the vaccine is effective against the delta variant.

The Food and Drug Administration aims to fully approve the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine by early September, The New York Times reported. As coronavirus cases surge, the FDA has accelerated its approval timeline, with an unofficial deadline of Labor Day or sooner. The agency said in a statement that its leaders recognize that the final approval could inspire more public confidence in the vaccine. Fully approving the Pfizer vaccine, which is currently under an emergency authorization, could help to increase vaccination rates as the highly contagious delta variant fuels the latest surge in COVID-19 cases. A number of universities and hospitals, the Defense Department and at least one city are expected to mandate the vaccine once it reaches full approval. According to the Times, 58% of the U.S. population and 70% of adults have received at least one vaccine dose.

Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III will decide within the next few days whether to recommend that President Joe Biden make COVID-19 vaccinations mandatory for active-duty troops, The New York Times reported Wednesday. Biden announced last week that all federal employees and on-site contractors must be vaccinated against the coronavirus or submit to regular testing among other measures.

The requirement included the 766,382 civilians working for the Defense Department, but not the 1.3 million active-duty service members. Austin has previously said that he would not be comfortable mandating the vaccine while it is not fully approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The FDA plans to fully approve the Pfizer vaccine by early next month.

Figures published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that the delta variant accounts for 93.7% of cases in the United States, CNN reported. This figure includes various sublineages of delta, which are classified as variants of concern by the World Health Organization. Delta rapidly became the dominant variant in the United States; in May, delta’s prevalence was approximately 3%. Some parts of the country have an even higher prevalence of delta than 93.7%. In Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska, delta accounts for greater than 98% of virus cases.

Researchers at Japan’s University of Tokyo are warning that the lambda variant may be resistant to vaccines and is highly infectious, Newsweek reported. The variant, which was first identified in Peru, has been found in the United States. Japanese researchers believe three mutations in the variant make it resistant to antibodies induced by vaccination. The paper also identified two mutations that make it highly infectious. "Lambda can be a potential threat to the human society," senior researcher Kei Sato told Reuters.

The coronavirus delta variant is upending reopening plans at schools across the country, which threatens President Joe Biden’s promise of a more normal school year and economic recovery, Politico reported. About a year and a half into the pandemic, there’s yet to be a consensus on how to keep students and staff safe at school. “It’s a terrible position to be in,” Dan Domenech, executive director of the American Association of School Administrators, told Politico. “We have a huge crisis and nobody wants to make a decision … You’re leaving superintendents wide open to fall to pressure from their community.”

A student wears a face mask while doing work at his desk at the Post Road Elementary School, in White Plains, N.Y., in this Thursday, Oct. 1, 2020, file photo. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, file)

Nearly 72,000 American children caught the coronavirus last week, an 84% jump from the week prior, CNN reported. Almost 4.2 million kids in the U.S. have caught the disease since the start of the pandemic. The number of cases in kids had been decreasing over the last few months, but numbers have ticked up as the delta variant drives a surge in cases across the country. “That [number is] high and considering the fact that we are vaccinated now, what that’s telling us is that unvaccinated people are getting infected in higher numbers because the virus is more infectious with the delta variant,” said Dr. Yvonne Maldonado, chief of the division of infectious diseases in the Department of Pediatrics at Stanford Medicine. Schools across the country are set to open with varying levels of restrictions. Some school districts will return with masks and social distancing, while other states have explicitly banned school districts from mandating masking.

The Offspring have parted with drummer Pete Parada after he refused to get a coronavirus vaccine, the New York Daily News reported. According to Parada, he got the disease a year ago and faced only mild symptoms. Parada says he is concerned about the vaccine triggering Guillain-Barre Syndrome, a condition he has had since childhood. “Since I am unable to comply with what is increasingly becoming an industry mandate — it has recently been determined that I am unsafe to be around, in the studio, and on tour,” Prada said, adding that he harbors no hard feelings for his former bandmates. Prada said that he made the decision after consulting with his doctor and encouraged people to understand that there is a multitude of reasons that some are not getting vaccinated. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, though, research has shown no increased risk with the vaccine for people with Guillain-Barre Syndrome.

President Joe Biden urged Republican leaders in Florida and Texas to follow public health guidelines or “get out of the way,” Reuters reported. Roughly one-third of nationwide COVID-19 cases last week were in these two states. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has opposed strict COVID-19 restrictions, issuing an order Friday that blocked mask mandates in state schools. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has threatened fines against officials and business that enforce mask mandates and vaccine requirements. "Some governors aren't willing to do the right thing to beat this pandemic, and they should allow businesses and universities who want to do the right thing to be able to do it," Biden said, without referencing the leaders by name.

Former President Barack Obama turned 60 on Wednesday, but the 44th president of the United States will not be holding a massive celebration this weekend in Martha's Vineyard as initially planned. Thanks to the ongoing rise in cases due to the delta variant of the coronavirus, the Obamas have decided to significantly reduce the guest list for the party that was to be held Saturday. “Due to the new spread of the delta variant over the past week, the President and Mrs. Obama have decided to significantly scale back the event to include only family and close friends,” Hannah Hankins, a spokeswoman for the former president, said in a statement according to The New York Times. The initial guest list, which was said to be in the hundreds, had reportedly included celebrities such as Oprah Winfrey, Steven Spielberg and George Clooney, according to The New York Post.

As poorer countries struggle to acquire enough doses to vaccinate their people, the World Health Organization is calling for a worldwide moratorium on third shots through at least September, The Washington Post reported. The coronavirus continues to infect and kill people at high rates in nations where vaccination rates remain low, leading some to call a third dose of vaccines for wealthy nations immoral. “We cannot and should not accept countries that have already used most of the global supply of vaccines using even more of it while the world’s most vulnerable people remain unprotected,” WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at a Wednesday news conference. Third doses are being administered in some countries, including Israel and Hungary, as evidence from some studies shows waning immunity and lesser protection against new variants.

The White House announced Tuesday that it had shipped more than 110 million doses of coronavirus vaccine to more than 60 countries, The Associated Press reported. President Joe Biden has promised that the U.S. will be the “arsenal of vaccines” for the world, the AP reported. The U.S. has currently shipped vaccines to countries from Afghanistan to Zambia. The U.S. is expected to begin shipping about 500 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to low-income countries by the end of this month.

More than 106,000 coronavirus cases and 600 coronavirus-related deaths were reported in the United States on Tuesday, according to Johns Hopkins University figures. More than 450,000 people were administered a dose of a coronavirus vaccine. The positivity ratio has risen past 10%, meaning that one out of every 10 people who get tested will have the virus. The U.S. by far leads the world in the number of cases reported, ahead of the second-highest country, India, by more than 60,000 cases. Watch the video below for more.

Many of America's universities are again mandating mask usage as coronavirus cases rise nationwide, University Business reported. Many colleges had dropped their mask requirements in late spring as guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention evolved, but have now reversed course after the CDC again changed its guidance. Among the high-profile colleges restarting mask mandates are Cornell University, the University of Minnesota, Auburn University, The Ohio State University, the University of Tennessee, and Kansas State University. Some schools are having their mask mandates challenged, though. The University of South Carolina’s mask mandate was halted by the state’s attorney general, ruling it could only mandate masks on public transit and in health facilities, WLTX 19 reported.

A fourth wave of the coronavirus is hitting Georgia hospitals, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. Northeast Georgia Health System had 110 confirmed COVID-19 patients as of Monday. The hospital system hadn’t seen that many patients since February. University Hospital in Augusta reported 36 people hospitalized, which is the highest it's seen since early March. Meanwhile, Memorial Health University Medical Center in Savannah had 67 cases and Southeast Georgia Health System reported 79. The majority of those hospitalized were not vaccinated, according to the report.

Survey results show that the vaccinated and unvaccinated are blaming different people the surge in coronavirus cases across the country, Axios reported. The survey results show that the vaccinated overwhelmingly blame the unvaccinated, while the unvaccinated are not sure who to blame and are more likely to take a conspiratorial approach. Just one-third of unvaccinated Americans said they would get a vaccine if their employer mandated it. "It's purely political at its core," said Cliff Young, president of Ipsos U.S. Public Affairs, which ran the survey with Axios. "To the unvaccinated, it just reinforces an already existing false belief system."

The top three targets of blame for the vaccinated were the unvaccinated (79%), former president Donald Trump (36%) and conservative media (33%). The top three targets of blame for the unvaccinated were people from other countries traveling to the U.S. (37%), mainstream media (27%) and Americans traveling internationally (23%). An additional 21% of unvaccinated respondents blamed President Joe Biden.

After Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis threatened to withdraw state funding from school districts that require masks, Broward County Public Schools has repealed its mask mandate, CNN reported. DeSantis issued an executive order last week preventing school districts from enacting mask mandates, even though the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that everyone in K-12 schools wear a mask regardless of their vaccination status. Florida is currently the epicenter of the coronavirus in the United States, reporting both record daily cases and hospitalizations on Sunday. “Safety remains our highest priority,” the school district wrote. “The district will advocate for all eligible students and staff to receive vaccines and strongly encourage masks to be worn by everyone in schools.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has added 16 more destinations to its highest travel risk level, CNN reported. The “very high” risk designation is assigned to countries that have seen at least 500 cases per 100,000 residents in the past 28 days. Among the 16 locations pushed to the highest level of warning include the touristy destinations of Greece, Ireland, and the US Virgin Islands. Other locations added to the highest risk level include Guadeloupe, Iran, Malta, and Saint Martin. Highly popular countries for tourists from the United States remain at the highest risk level, including Brazil, Costa Rica, The Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom.

New York City is set to become the first major city to require proof of vaccination to dine indoors, work out in gyms and attend performances, The New York Times reported. The requirement is meant to increase the pressure on the unvaccinated to get the jab. Enforcement will begin in mid-September. “It’s time for people to see vaccination as literally necessary to living a good and full and healthy life,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said. Just 66% of adults in New York City are vaccinated. Not everyone is going to agree with this, I understand that,” de Blasio said. “But for so many people, this is going to be a lifesaving act.”

One-third of all COVID-19 cases nationwide were reported in Florida and Texas last week, NPR reported. The metric comes as the CDC reports a 44% increase in new infections in the last week of July. Last week’s average count of daily new cases is “higher than our peak of last summer,” according to CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky. Jeffrey Zients, White House COVID-19 response coordinator, expressed concern about the number of cases reported in communities with lower vaccination rates. About 90 million eligible Americans remain unvaccinated, Zients said at a press briefing. On the other hand, there had been a 70% increase in the average number of new people getting vaccinated daily, Zients added. "Each and every shot matters," Zients said.

Some hospitals in Florida are seeing the darkest days of the pandemic so far as the delta variant spreads across the state, NBC News reported. UF Health Jacksonville is filling up with COVID-19 patients, many of whom are younger and sicker than in previous waves. “It was bad,” Debi de la Paz, a nurse at UF Health Jacksonville said of the Florida’s first wave last summer, “but now it seems to be even worse.” Florida has become the epicenter of the virus in the United States, accounting for about one-fifth of all cases and breaking its own daily hospitalizations record on Sunday. Last week, Florida was averaging 1,525 adult hospitalizations a day, alongside 35 daily pediatric hospitalizations. “We have been living COVID-19 for over a year and a half. The stress and the strain for all the providers and nursing staff is really getting to everyone,” said Dr. Dean Watson, a vice president at Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare.

Tunisia, which has suffered the most coronavirus deaths in North Africa, is speeding up its vaccination campaign, AFP reported. At one vaccination center in Tunis, nearly 1,200 people received their first dose in one day. “We are at a time when almost all of Tunisia has fallen ill, but the more we increase vaccination, the more the situation improves,” said Tunis resident Mohammed Aziz. Some Tunisians, including Samia Hajem, partially blame the government for virus outbreaks in the country, which has been struggling to contain the delta variant. “It is the government’s fault a little, but also the people who are not mindful organizing parties, weddings … it caused a lot of disasters.” Watch the video below for more.

Sky News Australia was handed a one-week ban on its YouTube account for publishing misinformation related to the pandemic, CNN Business reported. The ban prevents the posting of videos or the hosting of livestreams for one week; three bans over a 90 day period causes the channel’s permanent removal. "We don't allow content that denies the existence of COVID-19 or that encourages people to use hydroxychloroquine or ivermectin to treat or prevent the virus," a YouTube spokesperson said. Sky News Australia, known for its conservative commentators, fired back, with a spokesperson saying that the channel "expressly rejects that any host has ever denied the existence of COVID-19 as was implied, and no such videos were ever published or removed.”

All 11 million residents of Wuhan will be tested for the coronavirus after three cases were detected in the city on Monday, The Associated Press reported. Wuhan is the city where the coronavirus was first detected. The Chinese government has largely controlled the spread of the disease, using lockdowns and mass testing to all but eliminate local spread. The delta variant is driving a new wave of spread in the country, though, with cases confirmed in 17 of China’s 33 provinces and regions. In previous disease outbreaks, COVID-19 has not spread far beyond a single city or province. China reported 90 cases nationwide on Monday, 61 of which were locally acquired. Most of the cases were reported in Jiangsu province, home to the provincial capital of Nanjing, where a cluster of cases was identified. More than 1.6 billion vaccine doses have been administered in China. Watch the video below for more.

New York Yankees ace pitcher Gerrit Cole tested positive for COVID-19 and will not make his scheduled start Tuesday, UPI reported. The announcement follows Monday’s 7-1 loss to the Baltimore Orioles in New York. Cole is the only Yankees player who tested positive Monday, according to manager Aaron Boone. Lefty pitcher Nestor Cortes Jr. will likely start in Cole’s place against the Orioles, ESPN reported. “It's been a tough year. We got this news with Cole and definitely a low blow there," Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez said through an interpreter. Watch the video for more.

For the third time in the past two weeks, the United States topped the 100,000 case mark in a 24-hour span, recording 127,976 new coronavirus cases on Monday. According to figures from Johns Hopkins University, the country also recorded 452 fatalities. Elsewhere in the world, countries including Iran, Iraq and Bangladesh are all in the midst of seeing their worst infection spikes since the beginning of the pandemic. For more on totals from around the world, watch the video below.

With more than nine million teens having received the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says the data shows serious side effects are extremely rare, UPI reported. Just over 9,200 cases of side effects were reported to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS), with 90.7% being non-serious and 9.3% serious, including 4% who developed myocarditis. Myocarditis is an inflammation of the heart muscle, usually caused by a viral infection, but can also develop as a reaction to a drug. "Local and systemic reactions are common among adolescents following Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, especially after the second dose; however, serious adverse events after COVID-19 vaccination are rare," said Anne Hause, a CDC epidemiologist and the report’s lead author. Studies have shown that teens are at much greater risk of developing heart inflammation after catching COVID-19 than by getting vaccinated against the coronavirus.

Masks are back at the largest restaurant chain in the world. McDonalds announced on Monday that customers and staff will need to once again wear masks in U.S. stores that are in high or substantial COVID-19 transmission areas, according to Reuters. In a statement to The Hill, the fast food company said the decision was made in light of guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), which recently reversed its previous guidance that vaccinated people can go maskless. McDonalds had previously dropped its mask mandate for vaccinated employees and customers in May, but is now requiring masks regardless of vaccination status.

Other major chains that have made similar changes include Walmart, Target and Kohl’s, but mask mandates at those stores only apply to employees currently.

Two passengers flying from the U.S. to Toronto, Canada, are facing fines totaling nearly $16,000 USD per person after they provided fake COVID-19 vaccination cards. According to The Washington Post, the fines were issued for submitting false documentation and not complying with COVID-19 quarantine and testing requirements. Both of the travelers were citizens of Canada. “The Government of Canada will continue to investigate incidents reported and will not hesitate to take enforcement action where it is warranted to protect the health of Canadians from the further spread of COVID-19 and its variants of concern,” the Public Health Agency of Canada said in a statement on Friday.

An analysis published by the UK government’s official scientific advisory group says it’s “almost certain” that a COVID-19 variant will emerge that can evade the current vaccines, CNN reported. The analysis has not been peer reviewed and the early research is theoretical, according to CNN. The research provides no evidence that any such variant is circulating now. Documents like this one are released as “as pre-print publications that have provided the government with rapid evidence during an emergency.” 

The scientists write that the eradication of the virus is “unlikely” and that they have “high confidence” that variants will continue to emerge. Researchers recommend that authorities continue to fight virus transmission as much as possible to reduce the risk of a new, vaccine-resistant variant. They also recommend that further research focuses on vaccines that not only prevent hospital admissions and disease, but also “induce high and durable levels of mucosal immunity." Research is underway at several companies to make COVID-19 vaccines able to address new variants.

Restaurants, ride-hailing apps and food delivery services are backing Britain’s COVID-19 vaccine drive, offering discounts and free pizza slices to those who get their shots, The Associated Press reported. Uber, Bolt, Deliveroo and Pizza Pilgrims are among the brands to offer incentives. The program is designed to boost the vaccination rate among adults under 30 as Britain races to vaccinate as many people as possible before the impending cold weather. More than 90% of adults in Britain have received at least one dose of the vaccine, but for adults between 18 and 30 years old, that rate is about 60%. Health secretary Sajid Javid urged people to “take advantage of the discounts.” “The lifesaving vaccines not only protect you, your loved ones and your community, but they are helping to bring us back together by allowing you to get back to doing the things you’ve missed,” he said.

Six Flags Great Adventure is hosting a free COVID-19 vaccination clinic this month and offering those who get vaccinated a free ticket to its Wild Safari Drive-Thru Adventure, according to local outlet SILive. The theme park, which is located in Jackson, New Jersey, is partnering with the Ocean County Health Department to host the clinic on Aug. 5, 11 and 17 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. “We’re honored to partner with the Ocean County Health Department to encourage New Jersey residents and our out-of-state guests to get vaccinated,”said Six Flags Park President John Winkler. “The vaccination helps us protect ourselves and those we love.”

As coronavirus cases surge nationwide, some experts told CNN that they see a silver lining: a rise in cases may help people understand the importance of COVID-19 vaccinations. National Institutes of Health director Dr. Francis Collins says that the delta variant is motivating some holdouts to get vaccinated. "People are waking up to this," he said. "That's what desperately needs to happen if we are going to get this Delta variant put back in its place, because right now it is having a pretty big party in the middle of the country." Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine has reported “a significant increase” in vaccine uptake in rural areas of his state. "I think ... fear of the Delta variant is certainly one of the causes,"DeWine told CNN on Sunday.

Combining the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine with the AstraZeneca vaccine is effective, a new Danish study suggests. According to the study from Denmark's State Serum Institute, using the AstraZeneca vaccine as a first dose, followed by a second dose of either the Pfizer vaccine or Moderna vaccine, offers “good protection” against COVID-19, Reuters reported. "The study shows that fourteen days after a combined vaccination program, the risk of infection with SARS-CoV-2 is reduced by 88% compared to unvaccinated individuals," the institute claims. In comparison, the Pfizer vaccine has a 90% efficacy rate, a different Danish study reports.

The prices for some coronavirus vaccines in the European Union are going up. Pfizer and Moderna are raising the price for their vaccines, with Pfizer’s prices increasing by four euros and Moderna’s prices by about six, Reuters reported. The price for a Pfizer vaccine will be $23.15, while a Moderna vaccine will now cost $25.50 a dose. These prices are agreed upon in contracts with the European Commission, which pays money to the drug makers to procure the doses. The EU is on target to have at least 70% of its adult population vaccinated by the end of summer, according to the European Commission.

Scientists around the world have criticized England for easing its COVID-19 restrictions, warning that it is risking the possibility of new variants forming through transmission of the virus, CNBC reported. Most of Englands restrictions were lifted on July 19. The now-lifted restrictions include a mask mandate and social distancing requirements. As a result of the lifted restrictions, a consortium of over 1,200 scientists across the globe have raised concerns.

“If I were to design a massive experiment to create a more dangerous virus, one that is capable of blasting through our vaccines, I would do what the U.K. is proposing to do,” Michael Haseltine, a U.S. virologist and chair and president of ACCESS Health International, said. “Half the population vaccinated in the midst of a rampant pandemic, which would allow the virus to learn how to avoid our vaccines. That’s what I would do, and the rest of the world is justifiably concerned.”

More people were hospitalized for the coronavirus in Florida on Sunday than at any other point during the pandemic, The Associated Press reported. The rise in hospitalizations comes as Florida has become the epicenter of the United States’ delta-driven surge. Florida had 10,207 people in hospital care with the coronavirus on Sunday, breaking the previous record of 10,170 on July 23, 2020. Florida reported 21,683 cases on Sunday, the which was also the highest since the pandemic began. Last week, Florida averaged 1,525 adult hospitalizations and 35 pediatric hospitalizations a day, both of which are the highest per capita in the nation. Some hospitals in the state are overwhelmed, with ambulances being diverted in Pinellas County and hospital beds moved into hallways at one Jacksonville-area hospital. 

Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards reinstated the statewide mask mandate for people ages 5 and over while indoors “as COVID-19 cases & hospitalizations continue to rise across Louisiana, threatening the ability of hospitals to deliver care,” he announced in a Tweet. The mandate attributes the state’s growth in COVID-19 cases to “Louisiana’s insufficient vaccination rate” along with the transmissibility of the delta variant. The state currently has the highest number of new COVID-19 cases per capita, according to the report.

White House chief medical adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci said he expects the U.S.’s current surge of COVID-19 cases to “get worse.” According to The New York Post, Facui does not expect any new lockdown orders to come out of the surge, despite cases continuing to rise. “I don’t think we’re gonna see lockdowns,” he said. “I think we have enough of the percentage of people in the country — not enough to crush the outbreak — but I believe enough to not allow us to get into the situation we were in last winter.” In the past 10 days, the number of new daily coronavirus cases in the U.S. has almost doubled.

After they were put on pause for much of the pandemic, evictions are expected to increase Monday, after the Biden administration allowed the eviction moratorium to expire over the weekend, The Associated Press reported. Housing advocates fear that the end of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention moratorium could evict millions of people. Many advocates believe that evictions will grow over the coming weeks and months. “Struggling renters are now facing a health crisis and an eviction crisis,” said Alicia Mazzara, a senior research analyst at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and House Democratic leaders called on the Biden administration Sunday night to extend the moratorium, calling it a “moral imperative.” The Biden administration announced Thursday that it would allow the ban to expire, claiming that it had no choice after the U.S. Supreme Court signaled that the measure had to end. “Without the CDC’s moratorium, millions of people are at risk of being evicted or becoming homeless, increasing their exposure to COVID just as cases are rising across the country. The effects will fall heavily on people of color, particularly Black and Latino communities, who face greater risk of eviction and more barriers to vaccination,” Mazzara said.

The number of Americans getting vaccinated is increasing, with 816,000 Americans sitting down for their first or second jab on Sunday, according to Johns Hopkins University figures. The United States administered the fourth-most vaccines in the world on Sunday, behind China, Japan and India. Just over 25,000 new cases and 71 deaths were reported on Sunday, though reporting is often limited on the weekend. The positivity ratio, a measure of how many COVID-19 tests come back positive, increased to 7.94%. Watch the video below for more.

Texas has become the state with the second-most coronavirus deaths, placing it only behind California, the Houston Chronicle reported. Texas surpassed New York and achieved the unsavory accomplishment on Wednesday, hitting 53,275 deaths, a feat experts attribute to a failure to control the virus. “It seems that many of the Texas policies were put in place to try and prevent health care collapse rather than trying to prevent transmission,” said Spencer Fox, the associate director of the University of Texas COVID-19 Modeling Consortium. Fox added that he was surprised Texas did not surpass New York sooner, as Texas failed to get its positivity rate under control. New York was epicenter in the U.S. in the spring of 2020, with the state at one point leading in coronavirus deaths nationwide.

After being infected with COVID-19, two Sumatran tigers at a zoo in Indonesia’s capital of Jakarta are recovering. Nine-year-old Tino and 12-year-old Hari were the tigers infected with the virus. According to The Associated Press, Tino first appeared sick when he developed a shortness of breath, sneeze and runny nose in early July. He also had a loss of appetite. Just two days after Tino’s symptoms appeared, they began showing in Hari as well. Both tigers were treated with antibiotics, antihistamines, anti-inflammatory drugs and multivitamins and their conditions began to improve after 10 to 12 days. The government of Jakarta is now trying to understand how the two tigers were infected in the first place, as the zoo has been closed due to coronavirus restrictions. No caretakers or staff members at the zoo had contracted the virus.

In this photo released by Jakarta province government, a sumatran tiger who contracting COVID-19 looks out from a cage at the Ragunan Zoo in Jakarta, Indonesia, July 31, 2021. Two rare Sumatran tigers at the zoo in the Indonesian capital are recovering after being infected with COVID-19. (Dadang Kusuma WS/Jakarta Province Government via AP)

An Olympic skateboarder called the conditions in her quarantine hotel “inhumane,” Insider reported. Candy Jacobs, a Dutch athlete who has been in quarantine for eight days after testing positive for the coronavirus, says that those in quarantine aren’t able to get any fresh air. Jacobs said she and other athletes protested to get a supervised outdoor break, something she did get after having protested. “Having that first breath of outside air was the saddest and best moment in my life," Jacobs said. "Not having any outside air is so inhumane.” Just after arriving in Tokyo, Jacobs tested positive for COVID-19, forcing her into a mandatory 10-day quarantine that caused her to miss her Olympic debut.

Millions of people in China were placed under new lockdown orders in an attempt to curb one of the largest outbreaks the nation has seen in months. Fifty-five new locally transmitted cases of COVID-19 were reported in China on Monday, AFP reported. According to the news outlet, the delta variant of the virus has spread to more than 20 cities and a dozen provinces in the nation. Major cities, including Beijing, are testing residents and placing those who came in close contact with someone who contracted the virus under quarantine. Zhuzhou, a city in the Hunan province, has issued a lockdown that requires more than 1.2 residents to stay in their homes for the next three days. The city will initiate a testing and vaccination campaign during the lockdown. "The situation is still grim and complicated," the Zhuzhou government said. Zhuzhou is not the only city to enact drastic measures. The city of Zhangjiajie also locked down its 1.5 million resident at the end of last week.

Dr. Scott Gottlieb, the former head of the Food and Drug administration, said the COVID-19 vaccine still provides strong protection against serious disease and death, CBS News reported. New research shows that both unvaccinated and vaccinated people can spread the virus, but Gottlieb said that the vaccines were intended to reduce the risk of severe illness and hospitalization. "That premise is still fully intact," he said. "We still see that these vaccines are doing a very good job preventing symptomatic disease, preventing hospitalization and death."

Officials in West Virginia will offer fully vaccinated residents over the age of 60 antibody tests to determine whether their coronavirus vaccine still provides ample protection against the virus, The Associated Press reported. Announcing that they will follow the lead of Israel, state officials say residents with low antibody levels may be offered a booster shot. “I feel that the enemy is coming, and the enemy is this delta variant,” West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice said. Justice has said that he will not reinstate indoor mask mandates; rather, he will hold more coronavirus news briefings and has ordered a review of the state’s hospital capacity and personal protective equipment supply. Justice said he will have his own blood drawn for an antibody test after receiving his first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech more than seven months ago.

As her 42-year-old husband, a father of four, laid on the edge of life-and-death in the intensive care unit, Mindy Greene tapped out a message on her phone: “If I had the information I have today we would have gotten vaccinated.”Greene is among many unvaccinated who have expressed regrets about their decision after seeing the personal impact of the disease, reported The New York Times. A Utah hospital-clinician, Stormy, who only went by her first name for fear of drawing ire from coronavirus deniers, advocated for the vaccine on social media after catching COVID-19 and battling double pneumonia and sepsis.“I absolutely was fearful of the negative aspects that could come from it,” she said in an interview this week.“I was part of a problem that I was trying to avoid.”

Former Trump official Brett Giroir urged anyone who hasn’t gotten vaccinated yet to do so quickly, adding that it’s “just a matter of time” before all unvaccinated people become infected with the delta variant, The Hill reported. “If you have not been vaccinated, and you have not had COVID before, you will get the delta variant,” Giroir said on Fox News’s "America Reports." Giroir went on to say that while a COVID-19 infection may give some natural immunity, it’s not clear how long that will last.

Watch the video below for more:

In an interview on CNBC, AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot said it is currently unclear whether those who received an AstraZeneca shot will need a booster shot. Soriot says his company’s vaccines produce lots of T-cells, which can help make vaccines more protective over time. Antibodies also prevent viruses from infecting cells, but T-cells last longer. “We know that [our vaccine] has a decline of antibodies [over time] — we haven’t seen yet a decline of efficacy but it’s a bit early to judge, only time will tell, and I hope the T-cells will provide this durable, long-term protection,” Soriot said. In a separate interview on CNBC, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said that his company is “very, very confident” that a third dose of their coronavirus vaccine will provide ample protection against the delta variant.

Chinese authorities are scrambling to contain a coronavirus outbreak that has spread to Beijing, which reported its first coronavirus cases in 179 days, CNN reported. The cases are among a husband and wife who had recently traveled within the country. The new outbreak is thought to have originated at an airport in Nanjing, China. More than 175 cases of the delta variant have been tied to the Nanjing cluster. China has contained the coronavirus through mass testing and strict restrictions, locking down massive portions of the country to stamp out coronavirus spread. China has administered more than 1.5 billion doses of its vaccines.

The latest COVID-19 vaccination campaign kicked off in Tanzania on Wednesday as its president publicly received a dose and urged the rest of her nation to follow suit. After the death of the East African nation’s previous president, who had insisted the coronavirus could be defeated through prayer alone, the presidency was passed to his deputy, Samia Suluhu Hassan, according to The Associated Press. She received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine on Wednesday, expressing confidence in the safety of vaccines and announcing the nation would be pursuing more. The new Tanzanian government’s challenge will be to reverse the skepticism around vaccines that the previous administration promoted, the AP reported.

As the U.S. sees an increase in coronavirus cases, Disney theme parks on U.S. soil will require their guests to wear masks while indoors, regardless of their vaccination status. The policy change went into effect on Friday and falls in line with the CDC’s reversed course of recommending that fully vaccinated people continue to wear masks indoors, especially in places with high COVID-19 transmission rates. Disney has updated its safety policies in line with local health regulations, domestically and internationally, CNBC reported. In addition to this, the Walt Disney Company is requiring that their salaried and non-union U.S. employees get vaccinated before returning to work, NBC News reported.

Police have been deployed to Greece’s popular party islands as the delta variant spreads throughout the country, The Guardian reported. While authorities say hotels and family-type venues are indeed following coronavirus restrictions, so-called “party islands” are seeing packed bars and clubs, mostly filled with young people. More than 180 law enforcement officers have been sent to Mykonos, while an additional 30 policemen, including undercover agents, have been sent to Ios. The European Centre for Disease Control and Prevention discourages all but essential travel to Greece’s south Aegean islands. Greece’s deputy civil protection minister, Nikos Hardalias, said Mykonos and Ios were “one step” away from authorities imposing further restrictions, adding that the situation on six other Greek islands was worrying.

The seven-day moving average of new cases in the U.S. has eclipsed 72,000, the highest seven-day average since Feb. 17, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The trend is showing no signs of slowing down as the delta variant continues to spread across the country in a swift fashion.

This graph shows the number of daily cases reported across the U.S. (blue) and the seven-day moving average (red). (Image/CDC)

With the increase in cases comes an uptick in the positivity ratio. Nearly 8% of everyone who was tested for COVID-19 on Saturday had a positive result, the highest level in more than three months, according to figures gathered by Johns Hopkins University. Watch the video below for more information about how the virus is spreading across the country as well as the latest on vaccinations.

The eurozone’s economy grew by 2% in the second quarter of 2021, enough to officially take the monetary union out of recession, the BBC reported. The region’s economy is starting to recover after coronavirus infections surged over the winter. Growth in Italy and Spain approached 3%, while even stronger growth was reported in Austria and Portugal. Portugal saw 4.9% growth, credited to the resumption of tourism. Meanwhile, the two largest economies in the eurozone saw modest growth, with Germany and France’s economies growing 1.5% and 0.9%, respectively. The eurozone is still down 3% from its pre-pandemic level in late 2019.

As her 42-year-old husband, a father of four, laid on the edge of life-and-death in the intensive care unit, Mindy Greene tapped out a message on her phone: “If I had the information I have today we would have gotten vaccinated.” Greene is among many unvaccinated who have expressed regrets about their decision after seeing the personal impact of the disease, reported The New York Times. A Utah hospital-clinician, Stormy, who only went by her first name for fear of drawing ire from coronavirus deniers, advocated for the vaccine on social media after catching COVID-19 and battling double pneumonia and sepsis.“I absolutely was fearful of the negative aspects that could come from it,” she said in an interview this week.“I was part of a problem that I was trying to avoid.”

More than 21,000 new cases of COVID-19 were reported in Florida on Saturday, the highest number of cases recorded in the state since the start of the pandemic, The Associated Press reported. The increase in cases comes as the delta variant spreads across the United States. Florida has become the epicenter of the coronavirus in the U.S., accounting for one-fifth of the all new cases reported in the country. Hospitalizations are rising across the state as well. According to BNO News, more than 10,000 people in Florida are hospitalized with the coronavirus, 2,000 of whom are in intensive care. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has resisted any new restrictions, making use of executive orders to limit local authorities power to impose restrictions, including barring school districts from requiring K-12 students to wear masks.

The coronavirus may be significantly more widespread than official case counts suggest, Dr. Scott Gottlieb told CNBC on Friday. “I wouldn’t be surprised if, on the whole, we’re infecting up to a million people a day right now, and we’re just picking up maybe a 10th of that or less than a 10th of that,” he said in an interview on “Squawk Box.” Formerly the commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, Gottlieb now serves on the board of Pfizer. The current seven-day average of new daily coronavirus cases across the nation is up by 53% compared to the previous week, according to a CNBC analysis of data from John Hopkins University.

Some immunocompromised patients in Tennessee are receiving a third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at their physician’s recommendation, according to local ABC affiliate News Channel 9. The effectiveness of the Pfizer vaccine drops months after the second dose, so some are pointing to a third shot as an answer, according to the news outlet. Still, top health officials haven’t recommended a third dose, but some are still getting a booster shot. Hamilton County’s health department said they were aware of private physicians urging a third dose on occasion. “We do not function as the primary physician for persons with these diagnosis and leave these decisions to their personal physicians,” the health department said in a statement.

The Kenyan government suspended in-person meetings and public gatherings in an effort to curb the spread of COVID-19, Reuters reported Friday. Kenya’s health minister Mutahi Kagwe said that the government asked public and private sector employers to allow workers to work from home, unless their jobs were considered essential services. All government meetings and conferences should either be virtual or postponed for 30 days, Kagwe said. "We want to be part of the solution. We are asking those in politics to be part of the solution instead of creating epicentres of spreading of the disease,” he said.

Texas hospitals are on alert for a fourth surge of the coronavirus, The Texas Tribute reported. Hospitalizations in Texas are at levels not seen since February. On Tuesday, at Titus Regional Medical Center in Mount Pleasant, Texas, the number of severe coronavirus patients more than doubled overnight. That same night in Bexar County, hospitalizations rose by nearly 8%, with more than 100 people with severe COVID-19 admitted to local medical centers. Local authorities are beginning to sound the alarm, blaming the surge on the highly contagious delta variant.“I don't think we can say it in strong enough terms, what a dangerous situation we’re in right now,” Bexar County Judge Nelson W. Wolff said Wednesday.Less than 13 ICU beds are available for more than 2.3 million people in and around Austin, Texas.

As the more-transmissible delta variant spreads, companies are rethinking what steps to take to keep workers safe, NPR reported. Walmart reversed its policy and will again require all employees to wear masks in areas most affected by the delta variant. The New York Times postponed its return to the office indefinitely, according to NPR. Meanwhile, after the CDC altered its indoor mask guidance, Ford said it would again mandate masks at facilities in Missouri and Florida. The automotive company has since added Kentucky. "This is a Rubik's Cube with a thousand colors on each side," said David Lewis, CEO of OperationsInc, a human resources consulting practice. "There just continue to be a lot more questions than answers."

FILE - A sign advises shoppers to wear masks outside of a store Monday, July 19, 2021, in the Fairfax district of Los Angeles. Infections are climbing across the U.S. and mask mandates and other COVID-19 prevention measures are making a comeback in some places as health officials issue increasingly dire warnings about the highly contagious delta variant. But in a possible sign that the warnings are getting through to more Americans, vaccination rates are creeping up again, offering hope that the nation could yet break free of the coronavirus if people who have been reluctant to receive the shot are finally inoculated. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez, File)

Vaccinations against COVID-19 are rising in the U.S. as the delta variant drives a new surge in cases, CNBC reported Friday. Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows nearly 800,000 shots were recorded nationwide on Sunday, which is the highest single day total in weeks. The overwhelming majority of serious COVID-19 cases -- 97% of hospital admissions and 99.5% of deaths -- are among unvaccinated people, according to U.S. health officials. “Cases are rising, and almost all of those who are hospitalized and dying are unvaccinated,” said Jen Kates, a senior vice president at the Kaiser Family Foundation. “The data are right there, and I think people are realizing that vaccines are our best bet at controlling this.”

After cases of the delta variant have seemingly stopped surging in the United Kingdom, experts are wondering if the United States’ delta wave could also be nearing its peak, Yahoo reported on Thursday. Dr. Scott Gottlieb, the former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, has theorized the U.S. is further into its delta-driven wave than it realizes. “Maybe we’re two or three weeks away from starting to see our own plateau here in the United States,” Gottlieb said. Cases in the U.K. had been seen as likely to hit 100,000 per day, with 200,000 per day possible by the end of the summer. Many experts are wary to over interpret the declining cases in the U.K., though it could be seen as an encouraging sign across the pond.

As the planned end to a moratorium on evictions draws near, President Joe Biden has asked Congress on Thursday to extend the eviction ban, Reuters reported. In June, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it would not extend the moratorium restrictions past July 31, something the United States Supreme Court says the agency could not do on its own even if it wanted to. The ban narrowly survived a challenge in the Supreme Court, being upheld 5-4. In his concurrence, Justice Kavanaugh laid out how the ban could be extended, writing that "clear and specific congressional authorization (via new legislation) would be necessary for the CDC to extend the moratorium past July 31." The White House is lobbying Congress for an extension due to the spread of the delta variant. Some states have opted to extend their own eviction moratoriums beyond July 31.

A CDC study shows that 75% of people infected in a Massachusetts COVID-19 outbreak were vaccinated, but few required hospitalization, The Washington Post reported Friday. The study is part of mounting evidence that vaccinated people can spread the highly contagious delta variant. The data also provides context as to what drove agency scientists to reverse mask guidance. “This finding is concerning and was a pivotal discovery leading to CDC’s updated mask recommendation,” CDC director Rochelle Walensky said in a statement. “The masking recommendation was updated to ensure the vaccinated public would not unknowingly transmit virus to others, including unvaccinated or immunocompromised loved ones.”

Scientists also said that the outbreak in Provincetown makes it clear that the vaccines work against severe illness and death, but do not offer “blanket protection” against any chance of infection, according to the Post. Of the handful of those in the study who were hospitalized, just four were fully vaccinated.

The Los Angeles Unified School District announced that it would require all students and employees returning for in-person instruction to undergo weekly COVID-19 testing, regardless of vaccination status, a local CBS affiliate reported. The policy is in accordance with recent guidance from the county's public health department, interim superintendent Megan K. Reilly said in an email. The district will continue to require masking for all students, staff and visitors, according to Reilly. “Ultimately, the greatest protection against COVID and the [d]elta variant is vaccination,” Reilly said. “We encourage everyone who is eligible to be vaccinated.

Six passengers aboard Royal Caribbean International’s Adventure of the Seas have tested positive for COVID-19, USA Today reported on Friday. The ship department from Nassau Saturday. Four of the passengers were vaccinated adults and two of them were unvaccinated children. The tests were the results of routine, end-of-cruise testing, since many need negative tests in order to return home. "These guests were quarantined and then retested with a PCR test to confirm their diagnosis," said spokesperson Lyan Sierra-Caro. Not all passengers have been notified of the cases, but close contacts of the passengers have been alerted and given a PCR test. The rest of the ship will be notified Friday.

Australia’s military is set to enforce a lockdown in Sydney after the city reported a record-breaking rise in daily COVID-19 cases, Reuters reported Thursday. State authorities said the outbreak will likely worsen. Despite an extended lockdown in Sydney due to an outbreak of the delta variant, the city reported 239 new locally acquired cases over a 24-hour period -- the highest daily rise since the start of the pandemic. "We can only assume that things are likely to get worse before they get better given the quantity of people infectious in the community," said Gladys Berejiklian, the premier of New South Wales state. 

With little indication that restrictions are reducing infections, Berejiklian said that new limits would be imposed in the western and southwestern areas of Sydney where most of the cases are being reported. Residents in those regions will be required to wear masks outdoors and to stay within three miles of their homes. The tighter restrictions are set to begin Friday; New South Wales Police said it has asked 300 military personnel to help enforce the lockdown.

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