The U.S. eclipsed 1,000 COVID-19 deaths in a single day for the first time since March on Tuesday, according to a report.
Based on data compiled by Reuters, spiking infections, most caused by the delta variant of COVID-19, have raised the U.S. daily average of deaths. On Tuesday, there were 1,017 deaths from coronavirus, equivalent to about 42 deaths an hour.
The U.S., which has the highest death toll of any country, has now reported about 623,000 fatalities. However, it remains unclear whether the country can ramp up vaccination efforts to slow community spread. The number of ICU beds in the country is rapidly dwindling and COVID-related hospitalizations are up about 70% in the last two weeks alone.
The immediate future might present even worse numbers.
A little over 72% of adults have received at least one dose and most children are still not eligible for shots, despite an alarming uptick in cases among minors.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, only 50.9% of the U.S. population are fully vaccinated. The U.S. said booster shots were likely to be needed for many of those people starting in September.
