Five U.S. states set new records for Covid cases as hospitalizations rise

Five states broke records for the average number of daily new Covid cases over the weekend as the delta variant strains hospital systems across the U.S. and forces many states to reinstate public health restrictions.

Florida, Louisiana, Hawaii, Oregon and Mississippi all reached new peaks in their seven-day average of new cases per day as of Sunday, according to a CNBC analysis of data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. On a per capita basis, Louisiana, Mississippi and Florida are suffering from the three worst outbreaks in the country.

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The surging delta variant has hit the Gulf Coast particularly hard, pushing hospitals to their limits. To try to curb the outbreak in Louisiana, officials in July recommended masks indoors for everyone, regardless of whether or not they were vaccinated. They reintroduced a statewide mask mandate on Aug. 2 after it was obvious that wasn’t working and cases kept climbing. ...