135K New COVID Cases, 704 Deaths In US

With 135177 new cases reporting on Wednesday, the total number of coronavirus infections in the United States has increased to 36,190,390, as per the latest data from Johns Hopkins University.

The seven-day average has surged to 124234, according to data analyzed by the New York Times.

704 additional casualties recorded on Wednesday took the national COVID death toll to 618,479.

Florida reported the most number of cases – 24,753 – while most COVID-related deaths – 108 – were reported in Texas.

California is the worst affected state in terms of both the COVID metrics.

The number of people hospitalized due to coronavirus infection in the country has risen to 68,861, marking 82 percent increase in a fortnight.

A total of 30,050,064 people have so far recovered from the disease in the country.

As of August 11, more than 196 million people have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

167.1 million people, or 50.3 percent of the U.S. population, are fully vaccinated, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

More than 80 percent of people above 65 have received both vaccine doses.

353,205,544 vaccine doses have so far been administered in the country.

Meanwhile, Vice President Kamala Harris said 2.5 million Americans have signed up for health insurance during the Special Enrollment Period. They join more than 30 million people who have health coverage through the Affordable Care Act. At a press briefing, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki reminded that the Special Enrollment Period, which provides an opportunity to sign up to Healthcare.gov, closes on August 15.

Wednesday, President Joe Biden virtually met with four business, university and health care leaders who have adopted COVID-19 vaccination requirements for their workforces. The President expressed his appreciation for these leaders stepping up to protect the lives of their employees and communities.

He highlighted the Administration’s vaccination requirements for the federal workforce, including requiring COVID-19 vaccinations for health care workers at the Department of Veterans Affairs and the Department of Defense’s plan to add the COVID-19 vaccine to the list of required vaccinations for service members.

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