Delta tears across US, cases and hospitalisations at six-month high

Coronavirus cases and hospitalisations in the United States are at a six-month high, fuelled by the rapid spread of the Delta variant across swathes of the country grappling with low vaccination rates.
 
Nationwide, Covid-19 cases have averaged 100,000 for three days in a row, up 35 per cent over the past week, according to a Reuters tally of public health data. The surge of the disease was strongest in Louisiana, Florida and Arkansas.
 
Hospitalisations rose 40 per cent and deaths, a lagging indicator, registered an 18 per cent uptick in the past week with the most fatalities by population in Arkansas.
 
The intensifying spread of the pandemic has led to cancellation of some large high-profile events. One notable exception is an annual motorcycle rally in South Dakota which has been proceeding as planned. Florida set records for hospitalisations for eight days in a row, according to the analysis.
 
In that state, most students are due back in the classroom this week as some school districts debate whether to require masks for pupils.
 
The head of the nation's second-largest teachers' union on Sunday announced a shift in course by backing mandated vaccinations for US teachers in an effort to protect students who are too young to be inoculated.

China cases hit 7-month high
 
China’s coronavirus cases hit a seven-month high on Tuesday, after a cluster at a test site helped drive up numbers as the Delta variant challenges Beijing's grip on the Covid-19 pandemic.
 
According to news agency AFP, Chinese state media has described the current outbreak — which has sparked local lockdowns, mass testing and travel restrictions — as the most severe since the virus emerged in the central city of Wuhan. On Tuesday, health auth­orities reported 143 new cases — 108 of them locally transmitted.
 
According to AFP, Tuesday's numbers are the highest since January, when the country logged 144 new cases and 126 domestic infections, most­ly in the northern regions.