New polling finds that more Americans are worried about the delta variant, which now makes up nearly all new cases in the United States.

According to an Axios/Ipsos poll, 78% of adult respondents reported being "concerned" about delta's spread, with 50% reporting that they were "extremely concerned" or "very concerned" about the new variant, representing a six point rise since late June.

A separate Kaiser Family Foundation poll, conducted in July, found that 55% of respondents believed that new variants would cause the pandemic to worsen in their area. Thirty-six percent believed they would personally get sick from a new variant.

-ABC News' Gary Langer

Public school students in New Jersey will be required to wear masks when school starts up again, Democratic Gov. Phil Murphy announced Friday.

The rules, which will apply to K-12 students, are a departure for Murphy, who previously said school mask mandates would be left up to each district.

"I want as much as anybody else in our state to see our kids' smiles as they start their school years. But I do not want to see any of them getting sick needlessly or schools have to shut down again and go remote because of an outbreak," Murphy told reporters.

The governor stressed that the mask mandate is not permanent.

"As soon as conditions allow -- and please God sooner than later -- we will lift this requirement again," he said.

-ABC News' Will McDuffie

Florida reported a seven-day average of 17,757 new cases Thursday, meaning that 20% of new cases are now occurring in the state, according to data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has repeatedly criticized COVID-19 restrictions and mask mandates, even as infections and hospitalizations in his state soared to record levels.

Despite its high case count, Florida's vaccination rate is on par with the national average. As of Friday, 49% of Florida residents were fully vaccinated, according to the CDC, compared with 50% of all Americans.

An Albany, Georgia, hospital system has seen a worrying spike in COVID-19 hospitalizations. "A month ago, we had eight COVID patients in our hospitals. Today, we’re caring for 97. That’s a staggering 1,126% increase in just over four weeks," said Scott Steiner, Phoebe Putney Health System's president and CEO.

"Our current challenges are exacerbated by a lack of available contract staff to support the Phoebe Family. Every hospital in our region is stretched to its limit," he added. Steiner urged residents to support health care workers. "Get vaccinated, wear masks and take appropriate steps to slow down the spread of the virus," he said.

-ABC News' Brandon Baur

In Louisiana, which has the nation's highest case rate per 100,000 residents, COVID-19 hospitalizations are reaching peak levels, with more than 1,700 patients now receiving care.

"We're seeing people that are way too young to be so sick," David Wrightson, a respiratory therapist and ECMO (extracorporeal membrane oxygenation) specialist for the Willis-Knighton Health System in Shreveport, Louisiana, told ABC News. "We see families destroyed. We see children without one or more parent because of this virus. We see a new mom who will never go home to see her newborn, will never see her child grow up."

He went on, "When you see someone that's 30 years old with no medical problems at all, nobody knew anything was wrong, and we have this person literally on death's doorstep, doing everything in our power to turn them around and return them to their family. The vaccine is something worth getting."

More people need to see and understand the reality of this disease, he said.

"I wish I could show them a few steps in our day to see what we see and to see what we have to do, and to go home at night and, and have nightmares about those things, and sometimes cry yourself to sleep," he said.

-ABC News’ Erica Baumgart and Arielle Mitropoulos