Jesse Jackson, wife hospitalized with COVID-19
The civil rights pioneer was vaccinated in January.
The United States is facing a COVID-19 surge this summer as the more contagious delta variant spreads.
More than 628,000 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 59.9% 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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2nd field hospital to open in Mississippi following record-number of hospitalizations
Another field hospital with critical care capacity is now under construction on the University of Mississippi Medical Center’s campus – just days after the first in the state was opened in the parking garage of the medical center.
The opening comes in response to a record number of COVID-19-related hospitalizations across the state, and an "increasingly dire" crisis, the hospital said on Monday.
On Monday, Samaritan’s Purse began setting up the second surge facility for adult patients in another parking lot on the UMMC campus. Medical staff from the organization will provide care for up to 32 patients at a time. The facility will include five intensive care beds.
"We have approximately 30 patients statewide, including upwards of 10 individuals at UMMC, waiting for ICU beds at any given time," Dr. LouAnn Woodward, vice chancellor of health affairs and dean of the School of Medicine at UMMC, said in a statement. "These startling numbers prove just how critical the COVID-19 crisis is in the state."
Hospitals around the state will continue to transfer severely ill COVID-19 patients to UMMC for a higher level of care.
-ABC News’ Arielle Mitropoulos
Thousands of students, staff under isolation or quarantine in 1 Florida county
One Florida school district is facing a dire situation among students and staff just days after the school year began.
Hillsborough County Public Schools, which includes the city of Tampa, announced Monday that 5,599 students and 316 school employees are currently either in isolation or quarantine.
Isolation refers to individuals who have tested positive for COVID-19, while quarantine refers to those who have had close contact with a positive case.
The school board will be holding an emergency meeting on Wednesday, in which the possibility of mandatory face coverings will be discussed, school officials said.
-ABC News’ Victoria Arancio
Georgia governor pleads with unvaccinated
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp is pleading with residents who have not been vaccinated to get the COVID-19 shot.
The state reported more than 14,000 new cases of the virus over the weekend, prompting Kemp to announce during a news conference Monday that state employees would be given the day off on Sept. 3 to get vaccinated ahead of Labor Day weekend.
The new surge in positive cases will not affect businesses, Kemp assured.
-ABC News' Cherise Rudy
Frontline workers warn of increase in pediatric COVID-19 related hospitalizations
The average number of people being admitted to the hospital each day with COVID-19 in the U.S. has surged by more than 480% since the end of June, marking the highest number of patients seeking care in over six months.
Doctors are warning of the alarming rates of people entering the hospital with life-threatening conditions.
"What was more terrifying this time is that these people are drowning, they're drowning, and it is an awful thing to see,” Dr. Enrique Lopez, surgical tntensivist at Phoebe Health in Georgia said Monday in a new video message.”And you would look up on the monitor and their oxygen saturation would be near perfect and they would just sit there just starving for air just begging to breathe.”
Nationally, more than 83,000 Americans are currently hospitalized with COVID-19 nationwide. Several Southern states are experiencing their worst surge yet, with front line workers raising the alarm about overwhelmed ICUs, and patients waiting in hallways at some hospitals.
"They're just saying over and over again I can't breathe. I can't breathe. I can't breathe, and it was so different than it was last time," said Lopez. "Now, it wants kids, and those ICUs for those pediatric patients are filling up."
Likewise, as cases have increased, so have pediatric hospital admissions, experts say.
"Even though it's uncommon, it can be very severe and even life threatening in some cases," said Dr. Zac Aldewereld, assistant professor of pediatric critical care medicine and pediatric infectious diseases at the University of Pittsburgh. "And yet we have a vaccine to prevent it."
-ABC News' Arielle Mitropoulos
Delta likely contributed to vaccine's waning protection: Murthy
U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy announced at Wednesday's White House briefing, "Having reviewed the most current data, it is now our clinical judgment that the time to lay out a plan for COVID-19 boosters is now."
Murthy said protection against mild disease has decreased, likely a combination of waning vaccine protection over time and the strength of the delta variant, and that the administration is "concerned" that protection could continue to erode.
"Even though this new data affirms that vaccine protection remains high against the worst outcomes of COVID, we are concerned that this pattern of decline we're seeing will continue in the months ahead, which could lead to reduced protection against severe disease, hospitalization and death," Murthy said.
"That is why, today, we are announcing our plan to stay ahead of this virus by being prepared to offer COVID-19 booster shots to fully vaccinated adults 18 years and older," Murthy said. "They would be eligible for their booster shot eight months after receiving their second dose of the Pfizer or Modern mRNA vaccines."
The boosters are set to begin Sept. 20, but Murthy emphasized that this is pending FDA authorization and also reiterated that does not yet apply to J&J recipients.
-ABC News' Cheyenne Haslet