COVID-19 updates: No unemployment benefits for vaccine refusal in this state

The U.S. reported more than 225,000 child COVID-19 cases, marking the fourth consecutive week with over 200,000 new pediatric cases reported, according to a newly released weekly report from the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital Association.

In the last five weeks alone, the country has reported more than 1.1 million pediatric cases, according to the organizations.

"The weekly figure is now about 26 times higher than it was in June, when just 8,400 pediatric cases were reported over the span of a week," the organizations wrote in their report.

The South accounted for about half --110,000-- of last week's pediatric cases, according to the report.

The organizations added that more than 2,200 children are hospitalized with a confirmed or suspected COVID-19 infection.

-ABC News' Arielle Mitropoulos

The U.S. surpassed 675,000 coronavirus deaths Monday, according to Johns Hopkins University's Coronavirus Resource Center.

The 675,446 deaths since the pandemic began in March of 2020 now surpasses the deaths from the 1918 pandemic.

Although the seven-day average of new deaths is nowhere near the 3,600 deaths recorded in mid-January, the average has been increasing since mid-July, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The seven-day average of new deaths has gone from 191 on July 10 to 1,353 on Sept. 19, the CDC data showed.

The majority of recent deaths has been among unvaccinated Americans, according to the data.

One week after public schools opened for the new school year, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced new changes to student testing.

Starting Sept. 27, students in all grade levels will be tested weekly instead of bi-weekly. In addition, any student who is in a classroom with a positive case won't have to quarantine if they were masked and three feet distant, according to the mayor.

"We've been looking at these two issues over the last few weeks. We looked at it in light of the data from the first week of school, we decided to make both of these changes simultaneously, and they do complement each other," de Blasio said during his daily news conference.

The United Federation of Teachers had pushed the mayor to switch to weekly testing. All teachers must have at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine by Sept. 27, as part of the city's mandate for education employees.

CVS Health is launching a major hiring spree to fill 25,000 clinical and retail jobs in preparation for an expected increase in vaccine and testing demand in the months ahead. 

The move is in anticipation of the need for COVID-19 booster shots and flu vaccines.

The positions will largely be for pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and nurses at their retail locations to be filled “as soon as possible,” the company announced Monday.

Pharmacy executives predict a far greater staffing need than usual this year, especially should flu season get severe and if COVID-19 boosters become authorized for more expanded groups. Pharmacies are also hoping to avoid a repeat of last year’s scenes of slammed testing sites and the chaotic start to the vaccine rollout.

“Every flu season we need additional team members,” said Neela Montgomery, the executive vice president of CVS health and the president of CVS Pharmacy. “But this year we’re looking for even more. With the continued presence of COVID-19 in our communities, we’re estimating a much greater need for pharmacists, trained pharmacy technicians, nurses, and retail store associates. These jobs offer a rewarding opportunity to really make an impact on public health in our country.”

A virtual hiring event Friday will spearhead the recruiting push. 

-ABC News’ Sasha Pezenik