As the number of COVID-19 cases across the country is rising, three states have contributed to over 40% of all recent positive cases, according to the White House on Thursday.
White House COVID-19 Response Coordinator Jeff Zients said Florida, Texas and Missouri were contributing the highest number of cases, with Florida accounting for one in five positive cases for the second week in a row.
Those states also have some of the lowest rates of vaccination, Zients said, adding that “within communities, these cases are primarily among unvaccinated people.”
But in Florida and other states with high case numbers, he said, such as Arkansas, Louisiana, Missouri and Nevada, people are also becoming vaccinated at greater rates than the rest of the country, an encouraging trend.
“People in these states are feeling the impact of being unvaccinated and are responding with action,” Zients said.
Texas Gov. Greg Abbott recently said he would not impose another mask mandate, while some other states and local officials have implemented them to combat the delta variant.
Nearly half the country has been fully vaccinated, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but a rise in case numbers is being attributed to the highly spreadable delta variant.
While breakthrough infections do occur among the vaccinated, Zients said 97% of hospitalizations and deaths have been among unvaccinated individuals.
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