Daily COVID-19 cases in the U.S. are rising, with a seven-day average of 13,859 cases per day, up 10.8 percent from the week before, the CDC reported July 7.
Seven current COVID-19 trends:
1. Cases are increasing, particularly in the Southern, Midwestern and Western regions of the U.S., according to the CDC.
2. About 250 U.S. virus deaths are being reported each day, the fewest since March 2020, The New York Times reported.
3. Localized outbreaks in places with low vaccination rates are driving the national case uptick, the Times reported. Parts of Arkansas, Missouri, Texas and Nevada are struggling as the delta variant spreads. First identified in India, the variant accounted for more than half of all new COVID-19 cases between June 20 and July 3, according to the CDC.
4. Most of the nation continues to see low COVID-19 case rates. The outlook is especially positive east of the Mississippi River and on the West Coast, according to the Times. This analysis conflicts in part with the analysis from the CDC.
5. The U.S. was averaging 17,140 virus hospitalizations per day as of July 7, the Times reported. This is an increase from last week's average of about 16,517 hospitalized COVID-19 patients per day. Compared to two weeks ago, national hospitalizations remain flat.
6. Fewer than 1 million Americans are getting a vaccine every day, despite ample supply, according to the Times. As of July 7, 67.2 percent of all American adults have received at least one vaccine dose, while 58.4 percent are fully vaccinated, per the CDC. This is compared to June 30, when 66.5 percent of all American adults had received at least one vaccine dose, while 57.4 percent were fully vaccinated.
7. The world surpassed 4 million COVID-19 deaths July 7, with Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, PhD, director-general of the World Health Organization, urging wealthy countries to share their vaccine resources with low-income countries amid variant spread.