The White House COVID-19 response team is warning a majority of new COVID-19 infections in the U.S. are from five states and about 20% are coming from Florida alone.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Dr. Rochelle Walensky broke down the latest infection numbers during the weekly White House COVID-19 briefing on Friday.
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In the past week, 10% of counties have moved into the “high transmission risk” category and 7% of counties have moved into a “substantial risk” category.
She stressed that most infections are from those who are unvaccinated and those who are fully vaccinated are protected against severe COVID infections, including the more viral delta variant.
“There is a clear message that is coming through: This is becoming a pandemic of the unvaccinated,” Walensky said.
White House COIVD-19 response coordinator Jeff Zients said in the past week, only four states accounted for more than 40% of new infections with one in five coming from Florida.
“Importantly, states with the highest case rates are seeing their vaccination rates go up. In fact, in the past week, the five states with the highest case rates -- Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Missouri and Nevada -- had a higher rate of people getting newly vaccinated, compared to the national average,” Zients said.
Florida reported 45,604 new cases in the past week with a positivity rate of 11%. More than 11 million people in Florida have had at least their first dose of the vaccine. The Sunshine State is home to more than 22 million residents.
Infectious disease expert Dr. Anthony Fauci said the delta variant now makes up more than 50% of cases and in some areas is greater than 70%.
“The bottom line is: We are dealing with a formidable variant in the delta variant, as reflected by the data that Dr. Walensky told you, and the extreme vulnerability of people who are not vaccinated, which will account for infections, hospitalizations, and, ultimately, deaths,” Fauci said.
More than 160 million Americans are fully vaccinated.