Nearly 74% of eligible Americans have at least 1 COVID-19 vaccine dose
In 13 states, over 80% of the population has at least one dose, CDC data shows.
The United States is facing a COVID-19 surge this summer as the more contagious delta variant spreads.
More than 655,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 while over 4.6 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 62.7% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Latest headlines:
Texas breaks its daily death toll record
Texas has broken its daily death toll record with 408 new fatalities, according to state data.
The previous record was 387 daily deaths in January.
Texas currently has 321 children in the hospital with COVID-19.
-ABC News' Gina Sunseri
Biden's plan requires businesses with 100+ employees to require vaccine or weekly testing
In President Joe Biden's Thursday address he'll announce that all businesses with 100 or more employees must require vaccinations or weekly testing. Businesses that don't comply could be fined, according to a senior administration official.
“The new vaccination requirements in the president's plan cover about 100 million workers -- that's two-thirds of all workers in the United States,” a senior administration official said on a briefing call with reporters Thursday afternoon.
Biden's also looking to make testing more accessible and affordable. Walmart, Amazon and Kroger will sell at-home rapid tests at-cost for the next three months, meaning the price will drop about 35%.
The mask mandate for interstate travel and on federal property will stay in place through Jan. 18 2022, and the fine for violations will be doubled, the official said.
Biden will address the public at 5 p.m. ET.
-ABC News' Sarah Kolinovsky
6 states request ventilators from federal stockpile
In the last week, the federal government, according to a federal planning document, has received requests for 975 ventilators from six states: Georgia (500), South Carolina (160), New Mexico (115), Oregon (100), Oklahoma (50) and Alaska (four). Navajo Nation also requested 46 ventilators.
The U.S. military has deployed 23-person medical teams to hospitals in Alabama, Louisiana, Idaho and Mississippi, and will be sending a fifth team to Arkansas this weekend.
-ABC News' Brian Hartman
US hospitalizations more than 4 times higher than last year
The number of COVID-19 patients currently in U.S. hospitals stands at almost 102,000 -- more than four times higher than the number of patients one year ago (about 25,000), according to federal data.
More than 2,355 children are currently in U.S. hospitals with COVID-19, according to federal data.
Some hard-hit areas show signs of stabilization. Florida, for example, now has about 13,000 hospitalized patients, a drop from more than 17,000 patients earlier this summer.
But Kentucky and Idaho are both now seeing record hospitalization levels.
-ABC News' Arielle Mitropoulos
Texas suing 6 school districts over mask mandates
The Texas attorney general has filed lawsuits against six school districts that mandate masks, the office said Friday.
The lawsuits target the school districts of Richardson, Round Rock, Galveston, Elgin, Spring and Sherman for flouting Gov. Greg Abbott’s executive order prohibiting local entities from requiring masks -- what Texas Attorney General Ken Paxon referred to in a statement as "acts of political defiance."
In a statement to ABC News, Sylvia Wood, a spokesperson for Spring Independent School District, said the district had yet to be served and had no details about the lawsuit beyond a press release.
"Spring ISD will let the legal process unfold and allow the courts to decide the merits of the case," Wood said.
Elgin Independent School District Superintendent Jodi Duron also told ABC News the school district had not been served yet, and that schools in Travis County, part of Elgin ISD, are required to have students wear masks. "To the District’s knowledge, the Travis County Order has not been suspended," she said.
Round Rock Independent School District spokesperson Jenny LaCoste-Caputo told ABC News the school district is following Texas Education Agency guidance that allows for mask requirements "for adults or students for whom it is developmentally appropriate" and is working with local authorities "who advise us that masks remain an essential tool in stemming the spread of COVID-19 in our classrooms."
Sherman Independent School District told ABC News in a statement that it had not received any information on the lawsuit yet and for now "will continue to focus on promoting a safe and healthy learning environment for our students and staff."
ABC News has reached out to the other school districts for comment.
Nearly 90 school districts currently have mask mandates, according to a list compiled by Paxton's office. The attorney general anticipates more lawsuits if school districts "continue to defy state law," his office said in a statement.
Several school districts have sued the state to challenge the ban on mask mandates.
Last week, the Texas Education Agency said it is not enforcing the governor's executive order "as the result of ongoing litigation."