U.S. surpasses 40 million cases as delta spreads
More than 40 million cases of the coronavirus have been recorded in the United States, according to a New York Times database.
The total number of known infections, more than the population of California, the nation’s most populous state, is a testament to the spread of the coronavirus, especially lately the highly contagious delta variant, and the United States’ patchwork efforts to rein it in.
Vaccines are effective in preventing severe disease and death, but 47% of Americans are not fully vaccinated, allowing the delta variant more than enough opportunity to inflict suffering and disrupt daily life. Health officials say that most of the patients who are being hospitalized and dying are not vaccinated, and that it is those unvaccinated people who are driving the current surge and burdening the health care system.
Over the past week, new virus cases have averaged more than 161,000 a day, as of Sunday. New deaths are up to 1,560 a day, and hospitalizations are averaging more than 102,000 a day. Those numbers, while very high, remain lower than last winter’s peaks.
Before July 4, President Biden said he hoped for “a summer of freedom.” Instead, the delta variant became the dominant form of the virus, ravaging unvaccinated populations and filling intensive care units in some states.
U.S. cases make up nearly one-fifth of the known global total, more than 221 million cases as of Tuesday, according to Johns Hopkins University.