COVID-19 deaths have risen to an average of more than 1,000 a day for the first time since March, according to an Aug. 27 Times update. In Florida, the average number of daily virus deaths is currently higher than at any other point in the pandemic.
Seven other updates:
1. The U.S. is seeing a seven-day average of more than 100,000 COVID-19 hospitalizations per day, the second highest surge next to last winter's, the Times reported.
2. U.S. virus hospitalizations have risen nearly 500 percent in the last two months.
3. One in five U.S. intensive care units reached or surpassed 95 percent capacity in August. Though the crisis is concentrated mostly in the South — with Alabama one of the first states to hit capacity — small pockets of high occupancy are scattered across the nation.
4. In Florida, 16,457 people are hospitalized with COVID-19, the highest number of any state, followed by Texas, according to HHS data cited by the Times.
5. New daily COVID-19 hospitalization rates in the U.S. have increased 24 percent over the last two weeks, with 46 states and the District of Columbia seeing hospitalization rates trend upward, according to Aug. 30 data tracked by the Times.
6. Nationwide, new daily cases aren't rising as quickly as they were earlier this month. Some areas first hit by summer surges, such as Louisiana and Missouri, have reported sustained declines over the last few weeks.
7. The average number of vaccines administered per day has risen steadily this month, from about 816,000 shots Aug. 1 to more than 878,000 doses Aug. 27.