Children ICUs Pile Up With Covid Cases In USA's Florida, Is Third Wave Already Making Inroads?

A record number of Florida children were hospitalized with COVID-19 on Tuesday than in any other state, reflecting a rapid rise in pediatric cases in the US.

Coronavirus update: The world is reeling under the pandemic since 2020 and is preparing itself to battle the third wave of the pandemic. While India is recovering from the brutal second wave, the upsurge in Coronavirus cases in the US seems like the third wave has begun making inroads the other countries should be alarmed with the situation in America.

Not only the increase in Covid cases but the world's worst fear is most likely turning into reality as Florida children ICUs are piled up with new cases and the pediatricians, the nursing, the staff are exhausted, as reported by CNN.

A total of 46 pediatric patients were admitted to a Florida hospital with a confirmed infection while an additional 22 were hospitalized with a suspected case, according to the federal government’s data as quoted by USA Today.

Only Texas reported a higher total number of pediatric patients in hospitals with confirmed COVID-19 on Tuesday — 142 children — compared to 135 in Florida.

The United States is now averaging 100,000 new COVID-19 infections per day, returning to a milestone last seen during the winter surge as health officials urge people to get vaccinated to stem a surging spread of the Delta variant. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Delta variant caused between 80 percent and 87 percent of all US Covid-19 cases in the last 2 weeks of July—up from 8 percent to 14 percent in early June. The variant has driven cases from a 7-day average of 13,500 daily cases in early June to 92,000 on 3 August.

It is to be noted that the sudden spike in cases among children and adults being infected by the dangerous Delta variant is happening in the backdrop of the US govt easing lockdown and millions of kids returning to school.

Millions remain unvaccinated in Texas and Florida

Across the country, 70.6 percent of adults have received at least one dose of vaccines, while 60.9 percent are considered fully inoculated, according to US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data.

But millions remain unvaccinated and a surge in infections has been recorded in states with low vaccination rates, such as Florida and Texas.

More than 44,000 Americans are currently hospitalised with COVID-19, according to the CDC, up 30 percent in a week and nearly four times the number who were hospitalised in June. More than 120,000 were hospitalised in January.

Wearing masks in US are still optional

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced in May that fully vaccinated individuals didn’t need to wear masks in most settings, however, the rule changed in July as cases began surging at alarming rates.

According to the new guidance. Now even fully vaccinated Americans should wear masks indoors in areas of high COVID-19 transmission, according to the new guidance. The new guidance was in part prompted by data showing that the highly transmissible delta variant could possibly be spread by vaccinated people, the report adds.

Though the CDC recommends that everyone -- students, teachers, staff, and visitors wear masks in schools, it is still a choice of the local administration to make it mandatory especially for children which is resulting in a spike in cases. 

'An outbreak of the unvaccinated'

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the country’s top infectious disease expert and the White House’s chief medical adviser, said last week that “more pain and suffering” lay ahead – and once more called on Americans to get jabs, calling the rise in infections “an outbreak of the unvaccinated”.

“Things are going to get worse if you look at the acceleration of the number of cases, the seven-day average has gone up substantially,” Fauci said at the beginning of this month explaining that some 100 million people who are eligible for COVID-19 jabs have not been inoculated.