Covid-19 cases, hospitalizations rise, particularly in unvaccinated red states

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WASHINGTON – Before the July 4th Holidays, we told you about the country’s red-blue divide when it comes to Americans getting Covid-19 vaccine.

And now we’re seeing a surge in U.S. coronavirus cases and hospitalizations – mostly from red states, where vaccination rates are well below the national average.

“Arkansas has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the country, with fewer than 35 percent of adults being fully vaccinated. Now the state’s low vaccine intake has plunged headfirst into the highly contagious Delta variant of the coronavirus, putting some hospital systems on the verge of collapse again more than a year after the pandemic began, ”NBC News reported last week.

The states that have seen the greatest growth in new Covid-19 cases in the past 14 days, according to the New York Times: Tennessee, Arkansas, Alabama, Kansas, and Louisiana.

The states that have seen the highest increases in hospital admissions in the past two weeks: Alaska, Nevada, Nebraska, Arkansas, and Mississippi.

Donald Trump won all of these states in 2020 with just one exception – Nevada.

Data Download: The Numbers You Need To Know Today

33,981,797: The number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in the United States, according to the latest data from NBC News and health officials.

610,320: The number of deaths in the US from the virus so far, according to the latest data from NBC News.

334.151.648: The number of vaccine doses given in the US, according to the CDC.

48 percent: The percentage of all Americans who are fully vaccinated, according to the CDC.

58.8 percent: The percentage of all American adults aged 18 or over who are fully vaccinated, per CDC.

70 percent: The percentage of CPAC straw voters who said they would support former President Donald Trump for the 2024 nomination if he runs.

More than 50 km: How high Richard Branson flew in the Virgin Galactic rocket that launched on Sunday.

Tweet of the day

I have been reporting on Cuba since the rafters crisis in 1994. I’ve never seen anything like the protests today. https://t.co/h8Ukuvpfp3

– Frances Robles (@FrancesRobles) July 11, 2021

Texas is driving new voting efforts

Since President Biden will deliver a speech on voting tomorrow, Texas advanced its new electoral legislation on Sunday, writes Jane Timm of NBC.

“House Bill 3 cleared the party line committee early Sunday morning after about 24 hours of testimony and debate on the law, according to Democratic lawmakers. Senate Bill 1 was similarly passed by the committee on Sunday afternoon. The bill, passed during a special session of the Texas state legislature, drew hundreds of people into the state Capitol on Saturday, with some waiting just to testify in the middle of the night. “

The Texas Democrats blocked earlier legislation in May after a nightly strike.

The new legislation “would require voters to identify themselves to vote by post and prohibit drive-through and overnight options for early voting. Harris County, a highly minority and liberal area of ​​the state that is home to Houston, took advantage of these expanded options for early election during the 2020 general election. The bills would also provide criminal sanctions for violations of the electoral law and empower partisan election observers ” , adds Timm.

But two provisions that the Democrats had previously rejected have been removed, according to the New York Times: “a restriction on the Sunday vote and a proposal that would have made it easier to reject an election.”

Biden delivers gun crime reduction speech

At 1:15 p.m. ET from the White House, President Biden – along with Attorney General Merrick Garland and other law enforcement officers – will be making remarks on his administration’s strategy to reduce gun crime.

Also at Biden: Eric Adams, who has just won the Democratic primary for Mayor of New York City.

Upcoming Political Events We Are Watching

This will be on our political calendar for the next few weeks:

  • Friday July 16: Mike Pence, Mike Pompeo, and Kristi Noem all speak at a Family Leader event in Iowa.
  • Monday July 26: Pompeo addresses the Reagan Presidential Foundation speaker series.
  • Tuesday July 27th: TX-6 special runoff between Susan Wright (whose husband died to clear this vacancy) and State Representative Jake Ellzey.

ICYMI: What else is going on in the world?

Here is the Biden agenda in Congress.

Axios reports that the opening salvo of the “soft” infrastructure reconciliation bill will be priced at approximately $ 3.5 trillion.

U.S. NATO Forces Commander in Afghanistan Resigns As America Reduces Its Footprint in Afghanistan.

During an interview on Sunday, Trump repeatedly praised the January 6 protesters, calling them peaceful and saying his supporters were being held with “double standards.”

Trump’s attorneys could face punishment for filing a lawsuit in Michigan that a judge called just “speculation and guesswork.”