Delta-driven surge: New US virus cases top 100,000 a day

Cases and hospitalisations have skyrocketed in the last month, driven by the highly contagious delta variant.

The seven-day average for new daily Covid-19 infections has surpassed 100,000 in the US, returning to levels not seen since the winter surge.

The virus is spreading quickly through unvaccinated populations, especially in the Deep South. (Bloomberg)

Cases and hospitalisations have skyrocketed in the last month, driven by the highly contagious delta variant. The country was averaging about 11,000 cases a day in late June. Now the number is 107,143.

The virus is spreading quickly through unvaccinated populations, especially in the Deep South. Florida, Louisiana and Mississippi have had hospitals overrun with patients.

The US first crossed the 100,000 average number in November and peaked at about 250,000 in early January before bottoming out in late June.

Global deaths estimated to reach 5.3 million by Dec

The world will see 5.3mn reported deaths and 12mn excess fatalities by December as the Delta variant drives a surge in cases, according to projections by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME).

The US-based institute expects deaths to peak at the beginning of September then slowly decline afterwards, it said in a report published on Friday. The IHME’s forecasts distinguish between officially reported Covid-19 deaths and excess deaths attributed to the illness including unreported fatalities. At least 4.3mn have died globally since the start of the pandemic.