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COVID-19 live updates: Judge rules governor stop banning mask mandates in schools

Ten Florida school districts have adopted mask mandates for students this month.

ByEmily Shapiro, Ivan Pereira, Morgan Winsor, Erin Schumaker, Meredith Deliso, and Marlene Lenthang
Last Updated: August 27, 2021, 9:20 PM EDT

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

More than 634,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 while over 4.4 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 60.8% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Latest headlines:

Here's how the news is developing today. All times Eastern.
Aug 27, 2021, 9:20 PM EDT

14 portable morgues headed to central Florida hospitals

As Florida continues to battle a surge in COVID-19 hospitalizations, 14 portable morgues are headed to central Florida hospitals. 

ABC News confirmed the order with Lynne Drawdy, executive director of the Central Florida Disaster Medical Coalition, which is sending the coolers.

Each portable morgue can hold up to 12 bodies, Drawdy told ABC Orlando affiliate WFTV.

The coolers will go to hospitals across central Florida, as some have reached morgue capacity due to an influx of COVID-19 patients, and are expected to arrive by Monday, according to WFTV.

Aug 27, 2021, 6:34 PM EDT

Delta more likely to lead to hospitalization among unvaccinated than alpha: Study

A new peer-reviewed study estimates that the delta variant doubles the risk of being hospitalized if you're unvaccinated compared to the alpha variant.

A nurse works in a COVID-19 patient's room in the SSM Health St. Anthony Hospital's intensive care unit in Oklahoma City, Aug. 24, 2021.
Nick Oxford/Reuters

The study -- an analysis of more than 40,000 COVID-19 cases from the United Kingdom -- primarily included unvaccinated people, so the findings don't apply to vaccinated people with breakthrough infections.

Vaccines dramatically reduce the risk of hospitalization and death for both the alpha and delta variants.

-ABC News' Sony Salzman

Aug 27, 2021, 3:14 PM EDT

7 Southern states have ICUs over 90% full

Seven states, all in the South, have intensive care units over 90% full, according to federal data: Alabama (100%), Florida (94.98%), Georgia (94.68%), Louisiana (90.15%), Mississippi (92.07%), Oklahoma (91.68%), and Texas (93.86%).

An EMS medic from the Houston Fire Department prepares to transport a COVID-19 positive girl, age 2, to a hospital on Aug. 25, 2021, in Houston.
John Moore/Getty Images

The U.S. is continuing to experience its steepest and most significant increase in hospitalizations in seven months, according to federal data. On Wednesday alone, more than 12,800 patients were admitted to the hospital with COVID-19, marking the highest number of patients seeking care over the span of 24 hours since January.

-ABC News' Arielle Mitropoulos

Aug 27, 2021, 1:48 PM EDT

50% of adolescents now vaccinated

Half of all U.S. 12- to 17-year-olds have had their first vaccine shot, White House COVID-19 coordinator Jeff Zients said at Friday's briefing, which he called "critical progress."

A 13-year-old student receives a Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 vaccination in Los Angeles, Calif., Aug. 26, 2021.
Lucy Nicholson/Reuters

"The vaccination rate among adolescents is growing faster than any other age group," Zients added.

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said a new CDC report out of Los Angeles County showed that schools following the health agency's guidelines had 3.5 times lower cases during the winter peak as compared to case rates in the community. (This study did not account for the delta variant).

"Even when communities were experiencing high levels of COVID transmission, in the LA County study, layered prevention measures in schools provided a shield of protection, helped to keep COVID out of school and reduced the spread when cases did occur," Walensky said. 

She continued: "I want to strongly appeal to those districts who have not implemented prevention strategies and encourage them to do the right thing to protect the children under their care."

-ABC News' Cheyenne Haslett

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