WASHINGTON – Amid a spike in infections and hospital stays from the emerging Delta variant of COVID-19, the Biden government is raising money and other aid to the hardest hit areas in the country.
This week, only three states with lower vaccination rates – Florida, Texas, and Missouri – accounted for 40 percent of all cases nationwide. One in five cases occurred in Florida alone.
Federal public health officials announced Thursday that $ 1.6 billion from the pandemic relief package approved earlier this year will be used to step up testing and action in high-risk groups such as homeless shelters, substance abuse treatment centers and prisons.
Another $ 100 million will be sent to rural health clinics to pay for more vaccine education and outreach in communities that generally have the slowest vaccine intake.
While sending more resources, federal health officials stressed that these spikes in infection and hospital admissions typically occur in regions with the lowest vaccination rates.
“If you are not vaccinated, please take the Delta variant seriously,” said Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, during a press conference. “This virus has no incentive to let up, and it remains on the lookout for the next person at risk to infect.”
The federal surge response teams have worked with governors and local health authorities. They have provided technical expertise in genetic sequencing, data analysis and outbreak response to Missouri, Illinois and Colorado, said Jeff Zients, the White House COVID-19 response coordinator.
In North Carolina, FEMA will set up mobile vaccination clinics, Zients said.
FEMA and Department of Health officials were on site in Nevada to help respond to COVID-19, and HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra visited Thursday to learn about containment efforts.
The national vaccination campaign curtailed the spread of the virus dramatically by late spring, but vaccinations have stalled across the country, with 68% of US adults receiving at least one vaccination.
There are large regional differences, and the number of infections and hospital admissions increases again with the increase in the more contagious Delta variant. The seven-day average of US cases is up 53% from the previous seven-day average, according to data from the CDC.
Hospital stays have increased 32% and deaths have increased 19%. According to federal health authorities, 97 percent of these cases occur in unvaccinated people.
But views about the vaccine may change in areas of the country that have been the most hesitant. Last week, five states with the highest case numbers – Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Missouri, and Nevada – had higher rates of people being re-vaccinated compared to the national average, Zients said.
Governor John Bel Edwards said Wednesday the state had counted 5,388 COVID-19 cases in one day, the third highest increase since the pandemic began. On Thursday, data from the Louisiana Department of Health showed the state had counted 15 new COVID-19 deaths. There are also 913 patients in Louisiana hospitals and 65 on ventilators.
While some parts of the country have begun reconsidering or reintroducing mandates to wear face masks amid rising cases, CDC officials are not calling for any changes so far. The agency’s recommendations are that unvaccinated people should wear masks and that those who are vaccinated can do so at their own discretion.
Speaking at a news conference on July 16, Governor Edwards said, “At the moment I am not considering reinstating mitigation measures or mandates,” said Edwards. “We’ll of course continue to look at the numbers over time, but we’re just not there yet.” New Orleans Mayor LaToya Cantrell announced an indoor mask counselor, and New Orleans Department of Health director Dr. Jennifer Avegno, said: “The alarming transmission data we’ve seen over the past two weeks, coupled with an inadequate vaccination rate, leaves us with no choice. People who continue to refuse to take the life-saving COVID vaccine are now putting the entire community at risk. We have to act now to slow down the rapid spread of the Delta variant. “
Editor Jarvis DeBerry contributed to this report.
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