'Steady increase' in vaccines in past month, White House says
The U.S. saw its largest single-day increase in nearly nine months Friday.
The United States is facing a COVID-19 surge this summer as the more contagious delta variant spreads.
More than 613,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 and over 4.2 million people have died worldwide, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.
Just 57.9% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC on Tuesday, citing new science on the transmissibility of the delta variant, changed its mask guidance to now recommend everyone in areas with substantial or high levels of transmission -- vaccinated or not -- wear a face covering in public, indoor settings.
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Fully vaccinated Americans can soon travel to the UK
Fully vaccinated Americans can travel to the United Kingdom without quarantining as of Aug. 2, the U.K. announced Wednesday.
The new rule also applies to those traveling to the U.K. from the European Union.
-ABC News’ Guy Davies
New mask order in Las Vegas
Nevada is implementing an indoor mask mandate in counties with substantial or high transmission. The mandate includes Clark County, home to Las Vegas, and Sin City’s casinos and hotels.
The emergency directive, a result of the new CDC guidance, goes into effect Friday, state officials said.
-ABC News’ Alex Stone
Masks now recommended in US Senate
Following the new CDC guidance, the Capitol attending physician is recommending that senators and U.S. Senate staff wear face masks.
-ABC News’ Trish Turner
Vaccinated people with breakthrough infections could pass COVID to the immunosuppressed: CDC director
The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, spoke to “Good Morning America” Wednesday about why the CDC has reversed its guidance on masks for vaccinated people.
She said the agency felt it was important that vaccinated Americans “understand that if they happen to be one of those breakthrough infections, which was more likely in areas with a huge amount of transmission and disease, that those people could potentially pass it on to somebody, a loved one, who is immunosuppressed.”
Walensky said the mask guidance was changed because of the “new science that demonstrated for those who are vaccinated, that they could in fact transmit if they are one of those rare breakthrough infections.”
Austin facing 'dire' ICU bed shortage
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.