'Steady increase' in vaccines in past month, White House says

In Austin, Texas, intensive care unit capacity has reached a "dire" point, the city's health department said Friday, with only 16 staffed beds available for over 2.3 million residents.

"We are running out of time and our community must act now," Austin-Travis County Health Authority Dr. Desmar Walkes said in a statement. "Our ICU capacity is reaching a critical point where the level of risk to the entire community has significantly increased, and not just to those who are needing treatment for COVID. If we fail to come together as a community now, we jeopardize the lives of loved ones who might need critical care."

The low ICU capacity is similar to the beginning of the pandemic, Austin Public Health said, noting that the number of COVID-19 patients in local ICUs increased 28% between July 23 and July 30.

Local health officials advised that partially or unvaccinated people should avoid gatherings and wear a mask during essential activities, while those who are vaccinated should limit gathering sizes and wear a mask indoors, among other measures.

There were over 110,000 new COVID-19 cases in Florida in the past week -- the highest weekly increase since the start of the year -- according to the latest state data.

The Florida Department of Health reported Friday there were 110,477 new cases from July 23 to July 29. The state’s positivity rate is now 18.1%.

Just one month ago, the state was reporting 15,998 new cases in one week, from June 25 to July 1.

-ABC News’ Joshua Hoyos

Overnight, the U.S. recorded its highest daily case total since Feb. 12, reporting over 86,000 new cases.

The daily case average in the U.S. has surged to more than 66,600 cases per day, up by nearly 64.1% in the last week, and up nearly 481% since mid-June.

Louisiana now has the country's highest case rate with nearly 540 new cases per 100,000 residents. The state’s case average has skyrocketed in the last month, up by nearly 1,000%, and is now nearing its highest case level since the onset of the pandemic.

-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos

The Food and Drug Administration is now permitting preventative use of the monoclonal antibody cocktail from Regeneron for certain people who have been exposed to COVID-19.

Until now, monoclonal antibodies had only been for patients who were already infected with COVID-19 and at high risk of getting very sick, to help prevent more severe illness.

This is the first preventative therapy for unvaccinated and immunocompromised people in high-risk settings, aimed at proactively warding off infection before a positive test.

This expanded use will be for people who meet several criteria: those who suspect they have been exposed to COVID-19, or are at high risk of an exposure; at high risk of getting very sick from COVID-19 due to health complications; or at high risk of getting sick due to not being fully vaccinated, or because of an inadequate response to the vaccine due to an immunocompromising condition.

With this preventative use, there will also be a new repeat dosing available for some people -- for those with "ongoing exposure" to COVID-19 for more than four weeks and who may not mount a strong immune response to the vaccine. These patients can get a slightly smaller monthly dose of the cocktail for "the duration of ongoing exposure" to help keep them protected from the virus.

This is the only COVID-19 antibody therapy available in the U.S. for both treatment and post-exposure prophylaxis. It has shown to hold up against the variants of concern, including delta. A Regeneron spokesperson told ABC News the company is continuing discussion with the FDA to evaluate even broader prevention use in immunocompromised people for “pre-exposure” situations.

-ABC News’ Sasha Pezenik