COVID-19 updates: 345 children currently hospitalized with coronavirus in Texas

That number was up from 282 on Thursday.

ByJulia Jacobo, Ivan Pereira, Emily Shapiro, Meredith Deliso, Morgan Winsor, Catherine Thorbecke, and Marlene Lenthang
Last Updated: September 1, 2021, 3:18 PM EDT

The United States is facing a COVID-19 surge this summer as the more contagious delta variant spreads.

More than 643,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 while over 4.5 million people have died from the disease worldwide, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.

Just 61.7% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Latest headlines:

Here's how the news was developing. All times Eastern.
Sep 01, 2021, 3:18 PM EDT

Schools still safe amid delta if guidelines are followed: CDC

Even with the delta variant, schools are still safe for children if guidelines are followed, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said Wednesday at a town hall with the National Parent Teacher Association.

For the most part, Walensky said, "there's more disease happening outside of school than there is happening within a school."

Masked students disembark from buses at Gilmore Fine Arts School on Sept. 1, 2021, the first day of classes in the Racine Unified School District in Racine, Wisconsin.
Mark Hertzberg/ZUMA Wire via Newscom

Walensky, a mother of three, said she understands why parents are anxious.

But she added, "What we do know is when we implement the guidance for safe schools -- we implement the masking, the ventilation strategies, the cohorting and the screening strategies -- that we can have our kids be safe."

Masked students wait in line before the start of school at SC Johnson Elementary School on Wednesday Sept. 1, 2021, in Racine, Wisconsin.
Mark Hertzberg/ZUMA Wire via Newscom

American Academy of Pediatrics President Dr. Lee Beers said at the town hall that it's still a very small percentage of children who get severely sick. The U.S. saw 200,000 cases among kids in the last week with about 2,000 of them hospitalized, Beers said.

-ABC News' Cheyenne Haslett

Sep 01, 2021, 12:50 PM EDT

Hospitalizations at highest point in over 7 months

With nearly 104,000 hospitalized, U.S. hospitalizations are now at the highest point in more than seven months, according to federal data.

Registered nurse Katie Katie (L) and other nurses, put on personal protective equipment before tending to a Covid-19 patient inside the intensive care unit) at Adventist Health in Sonora, Calif., Aug. 27, 2021.
Nic Coury/AFP via Getty Images

Alabama's ICUs remain 100% full while Georgia's ICUs are over 96% full, federal data show.

Nearly 1,000 COVID-19 deaths are now being reported in the U.S. each day, the highest average in more than five months.

-ABC News' Arielle Mitropoulos

Sep 01, 2021, 11:38 AM EDT

Booster shots start in France

Booster shots are beginning in France on Wednesday.

Eligible recipients include people over the age of 65 and people with underlying health conditions. They must be at least six months out
from their second Pfizer or Moderna shot.

Those who received the single-dose J&J vaccine are also eligible to receive an mRNA booster if at least four weeks have passed since they were vaccinated. 

As of Tuesday, 65.6% of France's total population was fully vaccinated.

A patient receives a dose of Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine against the Covid-19 in Bordeaux, France, Aug. 31, 2021.
Mehdi Fedouach/AFP via Getty Images

-ABC News' Ibtissem Guenfoud

Sep 01, 2021, 10:42 AM EDT

Pfizer studying new pill in hopes it'll help with mild COVID symptoms

Pfizer is launching a large clinical study for a new pill that it hopes could prevent worse symptoms for patients with mild COVID-19.

The first participant has now been dosed in this "pivotal Phase 2/3 clinical trial," Pfizer said.

Drugs like Remdesivir and Dexamethasone can help people recover faster, but those are only reserved for people who are extremely ill and in the hospital.  

If proven effective, Pfizer will ask the FDA for authorization. 

-ABC News' Sony Salzman

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