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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.
Latest headlines:
Texas sending 2,500 medical workers to support overwhelmed hospitals
Texas' Department of State Health Services is sending 2,500 medical workers to support the state's overwhelmed health care facilities, including hospitals and nursing homes, Gov. Greg Abbott said Thursday.
This follows the 5,600 medical workers, mostly nurses and respiratory therapists, previously dispatched to the state's hospitals.
Texas' Department of State Health Services is also offering more medical equipment including ventilators and hospital beds, the governor said.
Texas had 13,928 COVID-19 patients in hospitals as of Wednesday evening, nearing the state's record of 14,218 patients in January.
Delta employee vaccinations see massive jump
The number of Delta employees going to the airline's on-site clinic for first vaccine doses has increased more than fivefold Thursday, just 24 hours after the company said it was raising health insurance premiums for unvaccinated employees.
Delta said Wednesday health insurance premiums for unvaccinated employees would go up by $200 per month beginning Nov. 1 to cover COVID-19 costs like potential hospitalization, which the airline says has cost it $40,000 per person on average.
Unvaccinated employees will also have to wear masks indoors and be required to take a weekly COVID test beginning Sept. 12.
-ABC News' Sam Sweeney
New mask, vaccine mandates announced in Illinois
In Illinois, masks will be required indoors regardless of vaccination status beginning on Monday, Gov. JB Pritzker announced Thursday.
The governor also said that vaccines will be required for higher education personnel and students, health care workers and P-12 teachers and staff. The unvaccinated must get tested at least once per week.
"This is a pandemic of the unvaccinated," the governor said, adding that 95% of deaths in the state are among the unvaccinated.
Illinois is now seeing 220 patients admitted to hospitals each day, the highest since May.
Florida sees record 26,203 new cases in a day
Florida reported 26,203 newly confirmed cases of COVID-19 to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday, setting a new record for the state's single-day case counts.
Florida's previous all-time high was 25,957 new cases recorded on Aug. 12, according to data collected by the CDC.
The seven-day moving average of new cases per day in the Sunshine State now stands at 21,604. In total, Florida has reported more than 3.1 million confirmed cases statewide and over 42,000 deaths.