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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Most Florida hospitals expect 'critical staff shortages'

Three out of every four Florida hospitals "expect to face critical staff shortages" in the next week as hospitalizations likely continue to rise, Florida Hospital Association President and CEO Mary Mayhew said in a statement Tuesday.

"Half of our hospitals will no longer accept transfer patients from other facilities," Mayhew added.

Hard-hit Florida currently has 16,521 COVID-19 patients in hospitals and just 14.2% of hospital beds available, according to federal data.

-ABC News' Brian Hartman


Alabama ICUs 99% full 

Five states have intensive care units over 90% full: Alabama (99.31%), Florida (91.63%), Georgia (91.03%), Mississippi (91.26%) and Texas (91.38%), according to federal data.


Nationally, about 75% of adult ICU beds are occupied.

Florida has the nation's highest case rate, followed by Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, Alabama, Texas, Hawaii, Missouri, Georgia and Kentucky, according to federal data.

As of Tuesday morning, more than 88,000 Americans were hospitalized with COVID-19, marking the highest number since Feb. 1, according to federal data.


The U.S. is recording about 500 COVID-19 deaths per day, which is nearly a 131% jump in the last month.

-ABC News' Arielle Mitropoulos


Cases among Kentucky kids jump 400% in 1 month

COVID-19 cases among Kentucky children jumped 400% in the last month as a record number of kids have been admitted to hospitals, Gov. Andy Beshear announced Tuesday.

"Kentucky’s case numbers and positivity rate have continued to rise rapidly after record lows for the past year were recorded for both metrics in June," the governor's office said.

Kentucky's positivity rate stands at 12.4%.

As of Sunday, there were only 17 Kentucky counties where at least 50% of residents had at least one vaccine dose, the governor's office said.


Half of eligible Americans in all states have received at least 1 shot

Every state now has at least 50% of the eligible population (12 years and older) with at least one vaccine dose, White House COVID-19 data director Cyrus Shahpar tweeted.


Some states have over 80% of the eligible population with at least one dose, he added.

-ABC News' Alexandra Faul


New Zealand confirms 1st case of delta variant in growing cluster

New Zealand's first instance of COVID-19 transmission in six months has been identified as the highly contagious delta variant.

"We are dealing with a delta variant," New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern announced during a press conference in Wellington on Wednesday. "Our case has originated in Australia."

The case, which was detected in the community on Tuesday, prompted New Zealand to immediately impose a nationwide lockdown. More community cases have emerged since then, with the cluster growing to 10 by Wednesday afternoon, according to data from New Zealand's Ministry of Health.

Ardern said genomic sequencing has linked the initial case to an outbreak of the delta variant in neighboring Australia's New South Wales state.

"Now, the job we have is to work through how and when it got here," she said.

It's the first time that the island nation of 5 million people has confirmed the presence of the delta variant, which was initially identified in India last October. At least 148 countries around the globe have reported cases of the delta variant, according to the World Health Organization.

It's also the first time in more than a year that New Zealand has had a snap level four lockdown, the highest level of restrictions.

In total, the country has reported 2,936 confirmed cases of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, including 26 deaths, according to health ministry data.