COVID-19 cases, deaths rise in most states as delta variant spreads; overdose deaths hit record high in 2020: Updates – USA TODAY

Cases and deaths from COVID-19 rose in more than half of U.S. states over the past week as vaccination rates slow and the highly transmissible delta variant spreads across the globe.

Forty-seven states reported more new COVID-19 cases last week than in the week before, and deaths rose in 30 states compared to a week earlier, a USA TODAY analysis of Johns Hopkins University data shows.

Hospital admissions are also expected to increase over the next four weeks, an ensemble forecast by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention predicted Wednesday. The U.S. may see up to 11,000 new COVID-19 hospital admissions reported on August 9, according to the forecast.

Cases worldwide declined steadily for two months but rose 10% compared to the previous week, the World Health Organization said. The number of weekly deaths, which declined steadily for nine consecutive weeks, also increased.

Less than a quarter of the world’s population has received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, and there are “vast inequities” in vaccine distribution and administration, with the majority of vaccines administered in a small number of high and upper-middle-income countries, the WHO said.

Also in the news:

►The Washington Monument reopened to the public Wednesday after being closed for six months due to COVID-19 safety measures.

►Los Angeles County is reporting the fifth straight day of more than 1,000 new cases. County officials said the five-day average of cases is 1,095 — a jump of more than 500% in just one month.

►Norwegian Cruise Line is challenging a new Florida law that prevents cruise companies from requiring passengers to show proof of vaccination against the COVID-19 virus.

►Italy is banning mammoth cruise liners from sailing into Venice, which risked being declared an imperiled world heritage site by the United Nations within days.

►Daily coronavirus cases in Britain have rose above 40,000 for the first time in nearly six months.

►The Chicago Department of Public Health said starting Friday unvaccinated travelers from Missouri and Arkansas have to either quarantine for 10 days or have a negative COVID-19 test.

►COVAX signed an agreement with Chinese vaccine makers Sinopharm and Sinovac to buy over half a billion of their COVID-19 vaccines by the first half of next year, according to a news release by the Global Alliance for Vaccine and Immunization (Gavi).

📈 Today’s numbers: The U.S. has had more than 33.9 million confirmed COVID-19 cases and more than 607,800 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. The global totals: more than 188 million cases and more than 4 million deaths. Nearly 160 million Americans – 48.1% of the population – have been fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.

📘 What we’re reading: Are play dates safe? What about flights? As parents struggle to determine what summer activities are safe for their unvaccinated kids, USA TODAY called on health experts to rate 10 events.

Keep refreshing this page for the latest news. Want more? Sign up for USA TODAY’s Coronavirus Watch newsletter to receive updates directly to your inbox and join our Facebook group.

Olivia Rodrigo speaks in support of Biden, Fauci vaccine campaign

Pop star Olivia Rodrigo headed to the White House Wednesday to meet with President Joe Biden and chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci.

As part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s effort to get young people vaccinated, officials were expected to make videos with Rodrigo to talk about the importance of the vaccine and answer important questions young people might have.

“It’s important to have conversations with friends and family members encouraging all communities to get vaccinated and actually get to a vaccination site,” the 18-year-old singer said at a press briefing. “Thank you all for helping share this important message. It’s so appreciated.”

The Pfizer vaccine was approved to inoculate children 12 years old and up in May. About 33.5% of 12-to 15-year-old Americans have at least one dose of the vaccine, and 24.9% are fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.

The administration has previously worked with young influencers on TikTok and gaming platforms to take their initiative “one step forward” in reaching younger audiences. Read more.

– Charles Trepany

Hazardous goods found for sale after consumer protection inspectors were pulled from ports during COVID-19

The government’s consumer watchdog agency has discovered widely ranging hazards among toys and other products now for sale after it secretly stopped routine inspections of imports during the pandemic. 

But the Consumer Product Safety Commission still has not answered basic questions from lawmakers about the risks to consumers from its decision to send its port inspectors home for nearly six months, a safety lapse first exposed by USA TODAY. 

In a new report to Congress, the agency also failed to disclose what it plans to do about dangerous products on the market. 

It turned up many concerns in a pair of spot checks to assess the potential harm, including red flags in the paperwork of 40 percent of the 56 companies it deemed at highest risk for having imported unsafe products during the port inspection shutdown. The agency said it followed up with inspections and now is acting on “potential violations discovered.” Read more.

– Letitia Stein and Tricia L. Nadolny

Why experts expected Guillain-Barré to appear in some COVID-19 vaccine recipients

Even though the Food and Drug Administration updated the warning label on Johnson & Johnson’s coronavirus vaccine to include an increased risk of a rare neurological disorder, health experts say Americans shouldn’t worry.

The CDC estimates 3,000 to 6,000 people develop Guillain-Barré syndrome in the U.S. each year. The odds of developing GBS after getting the COVID-19 shot, experts say, are less than getting it from other vaccines, bacteria and viruses, including SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

“The risk of getting COVID and developing severe disease or long COVID is so much more than your risk of developing a rare syndrome of the vaccine,” said Dr. Len Horovitz, a pulmonary specialist and internist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City. “You should put your arm out and get the shot.” Read more.

– Adrianna Rodriguez

Hospitalizations in children rising in 2 states

Seven Mississippi children are currently in the hospital due to coronavirus infections, with two of the young people on life support, a top health official said on Twitter Tuesday. 

State Health Officer Dr. Thomas Dobbs also tweeted Monday “pretty much all cases in Mississippi are delta variant right now” and the “vast majority of cases/hospitalizations/deaths” are among unvaccinated people. “7% of deaths in vaccinated worrisome — we are allowing too much circulating delta to reach our most vulnerable,” he added.

At the University of Mississippi Medical Center, pediatric admissions for coronavirus-related reasons have increased in the past three weeks, said Dr. Alan Jones, UMMC’s associate vice chancellor for clinical affairs. There are currently four pediatric patients undergoing treatment at UMMC, he said, with two of the young patients in an intensive care unit. 

In Missouri, CoxHealth CEO Steve Edwards, who oversees a large health system in the state, noted a similar concerning trend among young people, saying, “We are seeing younger and sicker patients coming.”

At least 57% of cases sequenced in the U.S. are of the delta variant, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Tuesday. And the World Health Organization said Tuesday that the variant has been detected in 111 countries and will become the dominant variant globally in the coming months. 

– Gregory J. Holman, Springfield News-Leader, and Sarah Haselhorst, Mississippi Clarion Ledger

US overdose deaths hit record 93,000 in 2020

Overdose deaths soared to a record 93,000 last year in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the U.S. government reported Wednesday. That estimate eclipses the high of about 72,000 drug overdose deaths reached the previous year and amounts to a 29% increase.

“This is a staggering loss of human life,” said Brandon Marshall, a Brown University public health researcher who tracks overdose trends.

The nation was already struggling with its worst overdose epidemic but clearly “COVID has greatly exacerbated the crisis,” he added. Lockdowns and other pandemic restrictions isolated those with drug addictions and made treatment harder to get, experts said.

While prescription painkillers once drove the nation’s overdose epidemic, they were supplanted first by heroin and then by fentanyl, a dangerously powerful opioid, in recent years. Fentanyl was developed to treat intense pain from ailments like cancer but has increasing been sold illicitly and mixed with other drugs. Read more.

– The Associated Press

2 rural Indiana counties battle vaccine culture war, only 1 is winning

Nestled in the southeast corner of Indiana along the Kentucky border, Switzerland and Ohio counties share much in common: They are rural riverside communities with no major highways. They are overwhelmingly white — both about 96% — and not particularly wealthy, with median household incomes below $32,000.

But in one significant way, these two neighboring counties could not be more different. Ohio County has the state’s third-highest vaccination rate. Switzerland County has the fourth-lowest vaccination rate.

Of Ohio County’s 5,875 residents, 66.4% had been fully vaccinated, as of July 11. Only Hamilton and Boone counties have a higher vaccination rate. For a period of time around March 29, Ohio County was number 1 in the state for both first dose and complete vaccination rates.

Travel south across the county line and just 27.6% of Switzerland county is fully vaccinated. As of July 11, Ohio County had fully vaccinated 3,404 residents, which is 913 more than Switzerland County, despite being half its size.

It’s a story — often repeated — of how in small-town America, all it takes to triumph over hardship is a few good neighbors doing the right thing at the right time to protect one another. Read the full story. 

– Ko Lyn Cheang, Indianapolis Star

Contributing: Mike Stucka, USA TODAY; The Associated Press