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COVID-19 live updates: Judge rules Florida governor stop banning mask mandates in schools
Ten Florida school districts have adopted mask mandates for students this month.
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.
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Rev. Jesse Jackson 'responding' to COVID treatment
Civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson, who is in the hospital with COVID-19, is responding positively to treatment, his son told ABC Chicago station WLS.
The 79-year-old, who has Parkinson’s disease, was vaccinated for COVID-19 in January, WLS reported.
His wife, Jacqueline, 77, is also in the hospital with COVID-19 and is resting comfortably, their son, Jonathan Jackson, said.
“She is having some oxygen but is able to function and breathe on her own without a respirator,” he told WLS.
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."
"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