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Daily coronavirus infections are more than four times what the U.S. was seeing on Labor Day last year, or a 316% increase, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. And daily deaths are almost twice as high. Blame the highly contagious delta variant and a swath of Americans refusing easily accessible vaccines that most of the developing world is furiously scrambling to obtain. Hospitalizations are up 158% from a year ago, U.S. Health and Human Services data shows. The result: Some U.S. hospitals are getting so crowded with COVID-19 patients that physicians may soon be compelled to make life-or-death decisions on who gets an ICU bed. (Bacon, Ortiz and Hauck, 9/6)

The resurgence of COVID-19 this summer and the national debate over vaccine requirements have created a fraught situation for the United States’ first responders, who are dying in larger numbers but pushing back against mandates. It’s a stark contrast from the beginning of the vaccine rollout when first responders were prioritized for shots. ... According to the Officer Down Memorial Page, 132 members of law enforcement agencies are known to have died of COVID-19 in 2021. In Florida alone last month, six people affiliated with law enforcement died over a 10-day period. (9/6)

The number of confirmed Covid deaths in Georgia has now surpassed 20,000, state officials said Friday. In addition, there are more than 3,000 “probable’’ deaths from Covid, according to the state Public Health website. Georgia’s first confirmed Covid death was in March 2020.“It is tragic but not surprising that we have surpassed this grim milestone of 20,000 Covid deaths in our state,” Dr. Kathleen Toomey, the commissioner of the Georgia Department of Public Health, said in a statement. (Miller, 9/3)

As patients stream into Mississippi hospitals one after another, doctors and nurses have become all too accustomed to the rampant denial and misinformation about COVID-19 in the nation’s least vaccinated state. People in denial about the severity of their own illness or the virus itself, with visitors frequently trying to enter hospitals without masks. The painful look of recognition on patients’ faces when they realize they made a mistake not getting vaccinated. The constant misinformation about the coronavirus that they discuss with medical staff. (Willingham, 9/5)

A coronavirus variant recently determined to be a “variant of interest” has been detected in 167 people over the summer in Los Angeles County, officials said. The variant now known as Mu was mostly detected in July, according to analyses completed between June 19 and Aug. 21, the Department of Public Health said. Named after the 12th letter of the Greek alphabet, Mu was declared by the World Health Organization as a “variant of interest” on Aug. 30, and was first identified in January in Colombia, the department said. Mu, also known as B.1.621, has since been reported in 39 countries. (Lin II, 9/6)

Among persons aged 17 or younger, COVID-19–related emergency department (ED) visits and hospital admissions in the states with the lowest vaccination coverage were 3.4 and 3.7 times that in the states with the highest vaccination coverage during the most recent 2-week period (Aug 14 to 27). (Soucheray, 9/3)

When parents remain on the fence about getting their children vaccinated against COVID-19, Las Vegas pediatrician Todd Zimmerman informs them that his family, including his two teenagers, have all gotten their shots. “That has helped put people over the goal line,” said Zimmerman, medical director for the emergency room at Sunrise Children’s Hospital. Conversations such as this have taken on critical importance, Zimmerman and other Las Vegas-area pediatricians say, as they see increasing numbers of cases and hospitalizations involving kids with COVID-19, the sickest of whom are almost always unvaccinated. (Hynes, 9/3)

Four children have died from COVID-19 since June at Wolfson Children’s Hospital in Jacksonville, according to a hospital spokesperson. Hospital data show 27 children were admitted to Wolfson in the past week. Wolfson pediatric critical care specialist Dr. Michael Gayle said two children, including a newborn, died with the illness this past week, according to WJCT News partner News4Jax. (Heddles, 9/4)

The pandemic may not be over, but Americans are over the pandemic — and it's starting to show in our collective willingness to cooperate with public health guidance. Over the last several weeks, the Delta variant dashed hopes of getting back to normal at a time when our patience for safety measures — and sometimes, each other — is already wearing thin. (Reed, 9/3)

Well over a year into the Covid-19 pandemic, visualizations of case data have become ubiquitous. By far, the most popular metric that public health officials and media outlets rely on is the daily count of new cases. But as the Delta wave picked up steam in the U.S., STAT introduced a new metric that helps detect early changes in case trends: case acceleration. (Parker, 9/6)

As the COVID-19 pandemic hit California, its healthcare facilities started having oxygen supply problems: Too many people were needing ventilatory support too quickly. While some rationing and troubleshooting did have to occur, the state was largely able to create a centralized request and allocation system, which included regional oxygen depots, procurement contracts, and tip sheets on oxygen safety and conservation. (McLernon, 9/3)