Nearly 600 patients wait for hospital beds in Houston following surge in COVID cases

According to the CDC, 46% of Texans have been fully vaccinated.

ByEmily Shapiro, Ivan Pereira, Meredith Deliso, and Marlene Lenthang
Last Updated: August 16, 2021, 12:25 AM EDT

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

More than 620,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 and over 4.3 million people have died worldwide, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.

Just 59.1% 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 12, 2021, 2:29 PM EDT

Biden says he stands with officials defying state mandates barring masks in schools

President Joe Biden said he stands with the local leaders in Texas and Florida who are implementing masks in classrooms despite orders from their governors banning mask mandates in schools.

President Joe Biden speaks about prescription drug prices and his "Build Back Better" agenda from the East Room of the White House, Aug. 12, 2021.
Evan Vucci/AP

"To the mayors, school superintendents, educators, local leaders, who are standing up to the governors politicizing mask protection for our kids, thank you," he said Thursday. "Thank God that we have heroes like you. And I stand with you all, and America should as well."

Biden said "there are a lot of people" trying to turn masks in schools into a "political dispute," but that these protections are about "keeping children safe" and "isn’t about politics."

-ABC News' Justin Ryan Gomez

Aug 12, 2021, 2:04 PM EDT

Florida has more cases than 30 states combined

In the last week, "Florida has had more COVID-19 cases than all 30 states with the lowest case rates combined," White House COVID coordinator Jeff Zients said at Thursday's White House briefing.

PHOTO: A healthcare worker administers a dose of a Covid-19 vaccine during an event hosted by the Miami Heat at the FTX Arena in Miami, Aug. 5, 2021.
A healthcare worker administers a dose of a Covid-19 vaccine during an event hosted by the Miami Heat at the FTX Arena in Miami, Aug. 5, 2021.
Bloomberg via Getty Images

People wearing facemasks enter a COVID-19 testing site at Orlando International Airport in Orlando, Fla., Aug. 6, 2021.
SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

He added, "Florida and Texas alone have accounted for nearly 40% of new hospitalizations across the country."

Elizabeth Gonzales comforts her 14-year-old daughter, Cerena, as she recoveres from being put on a ventilator in the pediatric intensive care unit of the Children's Hospital of San Antonio, Texas, Aug. 10, 2021.
Meridith Kohut/The New York Times via Redux

But the surge is driving up vaccinations and he said the most significant vaccine progress is in states with the most COVID-19 cases.

"In the past month, we've nearly tripled the average number of shots each day in Arkansas and quadrupled in Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi," Zients said. 

-ABC News' Cheyenne Haslett

Aug 12, 2021, 12:16 PM EDT

No evidence of superspreader event at Lollapalooza

Thursday marks 14 days since the start of Lollapalooza in Chicago and officials have found no evidence of a superspreader event stemming from the music festival, city health commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said.

Music fans attend the third day of Lollapalooza at Grant Park on July 30, 2021, in Chicago.
Scott Legato/Getty Images

There have been 203 cases of COVID-19 linked to the festival, Arwady said. No one was hospitalized or died, she said.

About 385,000 people attended Lollapalooza, most of whom were vaccinated, Arwady said.

The 203 COVID-19 cases were made up of: 58 Chicago residents; 138 Illinois residents outside Chicago; and seven out of state.

-ABC News' Alexandra Faul

Aug 12, 2021, 11:56 AM EDT

Largest teacher's union in US supports vaccine requirements for educators

The National Education Association, the largest teacher's union in the U.S., has announced support for COVID-19 vaccine requirements or regular testing for teachers. 

Romy Trigg-Smith (left) and Michelle Ortiz work to set up tables to check in students as parents drop off their kids during the first day of partial in-person instruction at Garfield Elementary School in Oakland, Calif., March 30, 2021.
Jessica Christian/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images, FILE

A masked school mascot in a bobcat costume greets students as they arrive on the first day of classes for the 2021-22 school year at Baldwin Park Elementary School in Orlando, Aug. 10, 2021.
SOPA Images/LightRocket via Gett

NEA President Becky Pringle said in a statement, "As we enter a new school year amidst a rapidly spreading Delta variant and lagging public vaccination rates, it is clear that the vaccination of those eligible is one of the most effective ways to keep schools safe, and they must be coupled with other proven mitigation strategies."

Nearly 90% of NEA members say they're fully vaccinated, the union said.

-ABC News' Whitney Lloyd