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New York Gov. Cuomo urges businesses to adopt 'vaccine-only admission'; Delta yields more reinfections, Fauci says: Latest COVID-19 news

Pressure continues to increase from Democratic elected officials to get people vaccinated against the coronavirus as infections mount across the country, fueled by the spread of the highly transmissible delta variant.

Days after President Joe Biden said federal workers and contractors would have to get vaccinated or face restrictions that include masking and testing, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Monday workers in New York City’s airports and public transit system will be required to get the shots or weekly tests. That follows last week's announcement by Cuomo that all state workers must get vaccinated or submit to weekly tests.

At a Manhattan news conference Monday, Cuomo also urged private enterprises to require vaccination of their employees and customers.

"Private business, bars, restaurants, go to a vaccine-only admission," he said.

Also Monday, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio “strongly" recommended that vaccinated people return to wearing masks indoors, but declined to make masking mandatory.

New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said all health care personnel and those who work at correctional facilities will have to be vaccinated by Sept. 7 or get tested once or twice a week for the coronavirus.

And in Louisiana, which has one of the country's lowest vaccination rates, Gov. John Bel Edwards reinstated a mask mandate in all pubic indoor settings, including schools and colleges, as the state experiences the highest per capita COVID-19 growth in the nation.

All three governors and de Blasio are Democrats.

Also in the news:

►Health officials in San Francisco and six other Bay Area counties are reinstating mask mandates for all indoor settings starting Tuesday regardless of vaccination status.

►More than 816,000 vaccine doses were reported administered Sunday, including 517,000 newly vaccinated. Since July 5, vaccinations have been slowly ramping up across the nation, said Cyrus Shahpar, the White House's COVID-19 data director, on Twitter.

►Britain is expected to offer COVID-19 booster vaccines to 32 million people starting early next month, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. The CDC has said that fully vaccinated Americans do not need a third shot yet because they continue to be well protected by their initial doses.

►Tokyo Olympic organizers reported 18 new coronavirus cases Sunday as cases reach an all-time high in Tokyo. The city reported 4,058 cases on Saturday, one day after Japan extended its state of emergency.

►The University of South Carolina and University of Minnesota are requiring students to wear masks indoors this fall. Some colleges will also require students to provide proof they received COVID-19 vaccines.

📈Today's numbers: The U.S. has had more than 35.1 million confirmed COVID-19 cases and 613,600 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University data. The global totals: More than 198.7 million cases and 4.22 million deaths. More than 164.9 million Americans — 49.7% of the population — have been fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.

📘What we're reading: Americans' divide over masks and vaccines has perplexed sociologists, legal scholars, public health experts and philosophers, causing them to wonder: At what point should individual rights yield to the public interest? Read more here.

Keep refreshing this page for the latest news. Want more? Sign up for USA TODAY's Coronavirus Watch newsletter to receive updates directly to your inbox and join our Facebook group.

Maui mayor asks Hawaii to start school online amid COVID-19 surge

The mayor of Maui County is calling on Hawaii officials to postpone students’ return to in-person learning amid rising COVID-19 cases throughout the islands. Hawaii’s students are slated to return to classrooms Tuesday, and Gov. David Ige said they would.

If officials do postpone in-person learning, Hawaii’s school district, which serves nearly 175,000 students across the state, would be the first major district to kick off the academic year remotely. Most of the country’s districts are still on summer break, many of them in areas with lower vaccination rates.

Case counts have risen in Hawaii in recent weeks, with Honolulu County accounting for most of them. But Maui County, which includes the islands of Maui, Lānaʻi and Molokaʻi, lacks the health care facilities needed to accommodate the recent surge in infections.

“Distance learning is not new for Hawaii’s students and teachers, and while it’s not ideal, it’s preferable to a potential surge in Delta pediatric cases,” Mayor Michael Victorino said in a statement, citing the uptick in children hospitalized for COVID-19 in mainland hospitals.

Ige said Monday that Maui's schools would reopen for in-person learning Tuesday along with those elsewhere in the state, adding that he plans to have a follow-up conversation with Victorino to discuss the mayor's concerns.

"We do believe that our students on each island ... should have the opportunity to return to in-person learning," Ige said.

– Alia Wong

As US reaches 70% of at least partially vaccinated adults, no national mandate in the works

On the day the Biden administration welcomed the news that 70% of American adults are now at least partially vaccinated, White House press secretary Jen Psaki said a nationwide vaccination mandate “is not on the table,” but noted that employers have the right to take that step as they see fit.

President Joe Biden said last week that federal workers and contractors would have to get vaccinated or face several restrictions that include testing and masking. His administration is also counting on vaccine requirements from private employers to convince holdouts to get inoculated.

Those efforts, along with perhaps fear of the delta variant's impact, seem to be paying off. While the 70% mark was achieved about a month later than the original goal of July 4, White House coronavirus response coordinator Jeff Zients noted a recent increase in vaccine uptake.

Zients said 3 million Americans got their first shot in the last week, the largest number for a seven-day stretch since July 4.

"There's a strong sense of progress, and you see it in the number of shots we're getting into people's arms each day,'' Zients said.

Dr. Anthony Fauci: Reinfections more common with delta variant

So-called breakthrough infections of people who are fully vaccinated have become a major concern in the battle against COVID-19, especially after the CDC revealed last week that new studies show those people can transmit the virus.

Perhaps more worrisome could be evidence that those who have had COVID already might not be as protected as they believe.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, President Joe Biden’s chief medical adviser, said that as of July 26 the CDC had received 6,587 reports of breakthrough infections that resulted in hospitalizations or deaths out of 163 million fully vaccinated Americans – or one in about 25,000 instances.

“No vaccine is 100% effective, so you can expect breakthrough infections,’’ Fauci said. “Most of these infections are going to be asymptomatic or mild.’’

Fauci also said people who have been infected should still get the vaccine to add a stronger layer of protection, because the delta variant is producing more reinfections.

“The protection you get from the original infection still exists somewhat,’’ Fauci said, “but reinfections occur at a much greater rate among individuals now than they did against the original (strain).’’

Sen. Lindsey Graham announces breakthrough infection

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina said Monday on Twitter that he has tested positive for the coronavirus despite being vaccinated.

Graham, 66, said he saw a doctor Monday morning after experiencing flu-like symptoms Saturday night and currently has mild symptoms that include feeling like he has a sinus infection. He plans to quarantine for 10 days.

"I am very glad I was vaccinated because without vaccination I am certain I would not feel as well as I do now,'' Graham tweeted. "My symptoms would be far worse.''

Millions face eviction after federal eviction moratorium ends

The end of the federal moratorium means evictions could begin Monday, leading to a years’ worth of evictions over several weeks just as the highly contagious delta variant of the coronavirus is rapidly spreading and ushering in the worst housing crisis since the Great Recession.

The moratorium, put in place by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in September, was the only measure keeping millions of tenants in their homes. Many of them lost jobs during the pandemic and had fallen months behind on their rent.

Landlords successfully challenged the order in court, arguing they also had bills to pay. They pointed out that tenants could access nearly $47 billion in federal money set aside to help pay rents and related expenses.

Advocates for tenants said the distribution of the money had been slow and that more time was needed to distribute it and repay landlords.

Even with the delay, roughly 3.6 million people in the U.S. as of July 5 said they face eviction in the next two months, according to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey. Here's what you need to know if you've missed payments.

Florida sets record for COVID hospitalizations

Florida on Sunday broke its record for coronavirus hospitalizations a day after the state recorded the most daily COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic in early 2020.

More than 10,200 people in Florida are hospitalized with confirmed COVID-19 cases, according to data reported to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. The previous record of 10,170 hospitalizations was from July 23, 2020, more than a half-year before vaccinations started becoming widespread, according to the Florida Hospital Association. Florida leads the nation in per capita hospitalizations for COVID-19.

Tallahassee Memorial HealthCare's chief communications officer said the hospital has 70 patients in its COVID-19 unit – an increase of 11 since Friday and the highest the hospital has seen. The previous highest number was 51, said Stephanie Derzypolski, who added that the majority of those in the hospital with COVID now are unvaccinated.

Coronavirus cases are climbing across the country, but there are dramatic differences in the intensity of the outbreaks.

Tennessee reported 356 cases in the last week of June and 12,765 cases in the last week of July, resulting in a 3,486% increase. In California, cases were up 1,078%. And in Louisiana, cases were up 1,043%.

More than 1M vaccine doses thrown away in 10 states since December

Iowa might have to throw out tens of thousands of doses of the vaccine over the next six weeks. Last week, El Paso, Texas, threw out nearly 4,000. And in Arkansas, more than 80,000 doses expired this week.

"Prior to the vaccine, I was heartsick because people died and we couldn't help them. Now, they don't get the vaccine and we can't help them," Tammy Kellebrew, a pharmacist who travels to rural hospitals across Arkansas, told Houston Public Media. "And so after every death, I go back to the pharmacy and I cry, and then I go back to work."

A survey reported by the New York Times says that over a million doses have been thrown away in 10 states since vaccines were first administered. Much of the loss comes from lagging demand in recent months.

New poll suggests unvaccinated people are unafraid of the pandemic

According to an Axios/Ipsos tracking poll, only 37% of adults said they were extremely or very concerned about the pandemic, the highest percentage since mid-May. The data showed that the percentage of those concerned is rising in vaccinated adults, but not in unvaccinated adults.

Of vaccinated adults polled in July, 44% were concerned about the vaccine, up eight percentage points since June. The percentage of unvaccinated adults concerned remained at a stable 23% from June to July.

Fifty-four percent of vaccinated adults were concerned about the delta variant while 25% of unvaccinated adults reported they were concerned. While COVID-19 cases grow across the nation with the spread of the delta variant, poll results suggest many unvaccinated people are unafraid.

According to the CDC, the 7-day average of new cases increased about 64% last week, with over 66,000 new cases in the U.S. The CDC issued a new mask guidance last week to minimize the spread of COVID-19.

Contributing: Tori Lynn Schneider, Tallahassee Democrat; The Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: New York 'vaccine-only admission'? Florida COVID hospitalizations