“This is becoming an unvaccinated epidemic,” Varensky said, adding that 97% of COVID-19 patients in the United States are not vaccinated.

According to officials, four states accounted for 40% of the increase in cases, and Florida alone accounted for one-fifth of the country’s new cases in the past week.

Along with Florida, Arkansas, Missouri, Louisiana, and Nevada are listed as states with a significant increase in cases.

Jeff Zients, the White House coronavirus coordinator, said that “if and when” deployment is needed, the United States has enough to strengthen the supply of needles, but the focus now is to persuade those who are still hesitant to protect themselves and their families. On the positive side, Zients stated that approximately 5 million people in the country have been vaccinated in the past 10 days, many of whom are from states with low vaccination rates so far.

Currently, according to CDC statistics, 65.2% of the eligible population over the age of 12 have been vaccinated at least once, and 56.5% have been vaccinated, but there are big differences among the 50 states.

US officials emphasized young people in targeted vaccination messages, saying they were hospitalized more frequently than at the beginning of the pandemic. Earlier this week, the White House brought teen pop star Olivia Rodrigo (Olivia Rodrigo) into the White House to serve some public service establishments.

In contrast, 79.3% of Americans over 65 were vaccinated, and the proportion of one-time vaccinations was 9% higher.

Los Angeles County restores indoor mask regulations

State and local officials are reconsidering the use of masks, most notably in Los Angeles County’s announcement late Thursday.

As cases in many parts of the United States have risen to worrying levels, the county has a population of 10 million and Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States, is among the jurisdictions that have recommended or mandated the wearing of masks or other epidemic restrictions in recent days. One.

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health said on Twitter on Thursday: “We require everyone in public places and indoors in businesses to wear masks, regardless of vaccination, so that we can stop the increase in the level of transmission that we are seeing.”

The agency said the authorization will take effect one minute before midnight on Saturday night.

Before the announcement, Los Angeles County had reported more than 1,000 new COVID-19 cases for six consecutive days. As of Wednesday, nearly 400 people had been hospitalized for COVID-19, an increase of 275 from the previous week. Nine new COVID-19 deaths were reported on Wednesday.

More than 1,500 new infections were reported on Thursday.

Also on Thursday, California’s Sacramento and Fresno counties recommended that people who are vaccinated wear masks indoors. Officials in Austin, Texas, on Thursday urged unvaccinated or other high-risk groups to avoid travel, indoor gatherings, eating out and shopping, and to wear masks.

Earlier this week, Yolo County, California, also recommended wearing masks indoors. In Springfield, Missouri, children and teachers were required to wear masks during summer school.

Masks still need to be worn on public transport: CDC officials

Despite these trends, this week a group of Republican lawmakers introduced legislation to ban the wearing of masks on public transportation, arguing that as more and more Americans are vaccinated, these regulations no longer make sense. Arizona Rep. Andy Biggs stated that the transit mask regulations “only those who like to control our daily lives will comply.”

In mid-May, the CDC stated that in most places, fully vaccinated people can avoid wearing masks indoors—but there are some exceptions, such as border crossings.

A senior US health official signed a comprehensive order requiring masks to be worn on almost all forms of public transportation. He said masks are a key tool to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Marty Cetron, director of the Global Immigration and Quarantine Division of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), told Reuters on Thursday that the agency’s “current position” is that the authorization should not be revoked.

“Masks are really powerful, and we should make sure they are part of our arsenal,” Cetron said in an interview. “We wear masks not just to protect ourselves-we wear masks because it is our way of caring for and expressing concern for each other.”

Regulations that have been implemented since January require all passengers to wear masks when in planes, ships, trains, subways, buses, taxis and carpooling, as well as in transportation hubs such as airports, bus or ferry terminals, train and subway stations, and ports.

Watch | Delta Air Lines is looking for unvaccinated Americans:

Even with the increase in the number of cases, the COVID-19 vaccination rate in the United States has begun to decline, mainly in areas with low vaccination rates. Officials are trying to incentivize vaccines, but they say they may need to take more drastic measures. 1:58

The requirement to wear masks has always been a huge source of friction on American aircraft. The Federal Aviation Administration said on Tuesday that since January 1, it has received 3,420 reports of unruly passengers, of which 2,559 were due to refusing to wear masks.

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) stated that July 11 was the busiest day since February 2020, with nearly 2.2 million passengers.

“I know we are all just over emotionally, but I do think that if we realize that the virus is the enemy, not your compatriot or the person sitting next to you or the person sitting next to you or a piece of cloth, we will be together Success must be on the face,” Cetron said.

There is no expiration date for CDC transit mask orders. In April, TSA extended its mask requirements to September 13.

During Donald Trump’s administration, efforts by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to promote the mandatory use of masks during transportation were blocked.