COVID-19 updates: 345 children currently hospitalized with coronavirus in Texas

The United States is facing a COVID-19 surge this summer as the more contagious delta variant spreads.

More than 643,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 while over 4.5 million people have died from the disease worldwide, according to real-time data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University.

Just 61.7% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Latest Developments

_{September 6, 2021}

Nearly 350 children currently hospitalized with COVID-19 in Texas

Nearly 350 children are currently hospitalized with COVID-19 in Texas, state data shows.

According to the Texas Department of State Health Services' online COVID-19 dashboard, which was last updated on Sunday afternoon, there are 345 pediatric patients in hospitals across the Lone Star State. That number was up from 282 on Thursday afternoon.

The data also shows there are 73 staffed pediatric intensive care unit beds available in all of Texas.

Since the new school year began in Texas last month, some 52,000 students have tested positive for COVID-19, according to the data.

-ABC News' Gina Sunseri

_{September 5, 2021}

Moderna booster shots delayed by at least one week: Fauci

Booster shots for the Moderna vaccine will have to wait at least one week after the president's Sept. 20 target because of the delay in submitting data, Dr. Anthony Fauci said Sunday.

Fauci told CNN that Pfizer was able to submit its data to the Food and Drug Administration about their mRNA vaccine booster shot earlier, and "it's been examined and ready to go." Moderna is behind in submitting its data causing the delay.

"What you might see is rather than the simultaneous rolling out of the booster program of both those products you may have be sequential by about a week or two," he said. "I don't think that is a major issue there, but we would have liked to have seen it happen all together simultaneously."

_{September 4, 2021}

3 Florida school districts challenge health department rule over masks

Three Florida school districts have filed a legal challenge against the state health department, seeking to invalidate an emergency rule that allows parents to opt out of mask mandates.

The petition, filed Friday, argues that the emergency rule -- issued after Gov. Ron DeSantis ordered the health department to protect parents' choice when it comes to masking their children -- exceeds its authority and is invalid.

The school districts in Alachua, Broward and Orange counties, which all require students and staff to wear masks, requested that an administrative judge hear the case.

Florida's education commissioner has withheld the salaries of school board members in Alachua and Broward counties over their mask mandates -- and has threatened similar action in Orange County.

Last week, a Tallahassee judge ruled in favor of a group of parents who sued the state over its ban on mask mandates. That ruling is being appealed.

-ABC News' Will McDuffie

_{September 4, 2021}

TSA sees Labor Day weekend travel uptick

Over 2.1 million people were screened at U.S. airport security check points Friday -- the highest checkpoint volume since Aug. 15, Transportation Security Administration spokesperson Lisa Farbstein said.

Americans have flocked to airports to travel for the Labor Day weekend despite the threat of the delta variant and surging COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations.

The U.S.’ daily case average remains around 153,000 cases a day, up by approximately 964% in the last two months.

Overnight Friday, the U.S. recorded its second single-highest day of COVID cases this week with more than 170,000 new cases reported.

Every state in the country is currently experiencing high community transmission. The South still leads the country with the highest case rates. Tennessee, and South Carolina currently have the country's highest case rate, followed by Mississippi, Florida, Georgia and Wyoming, all with case rates above 600 per 100,000 people.

-ABC News' Ahmad Hemingway and Arielle Mitropoulos

_{September 4, 2021}

COVID-19 restrictions in place for Philadelphia’s Made In America Festival

This year’s Made In America festival over Labor Day weekend in Philadelphia will go on with COVID-19 restrictions.

Despite surging delta variant cases and flooding from the Schuylkill River that inundated the Ben Franklin Parkway with water, the festival will continue, officials said.

"I think it's good for the city to have this kind of event, so we can celebrate a little bit even in the midst of potential tragedy. Jay-Z, Beyonce, the Biebs (Justin Bieber) is coming," Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney said Friday. “It'll be fun for a change...be nice to have some fun, wouldn't it?"

Roc Nation, which is producing the two-day festival, said all attendees will need to wear masks. Attendees will also have to show proof of a negative COVID-19 test or printed proof of full COVID-19 vaccination to get in.

"The negative COVID-19 test result must be obtained within 48 hours of attending the Made In America festival," said Roc Nation on the festival’s website.

Philadelphia officials also updated the city’s mask mandate in August to require masks at all non-seated outdoor events with over 1,000 attendees.

_{September 4, 2021}

Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr.’s wife Jacqueline released from hospital after COVID-19 treatment

Jacqueline L. Jackson, the wife of civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr, has been released from the hospital after receiving treatment for COVID-19, her family said Friday.

"Our mother is leaving the Northwestern Memorial Hospital and coming home," the family said in a statement. "Our family is grateful to God and the medical team that treated her and that is allowing her body to continue to heal from the COVID-19 virus."

She had been in the ICU after testing positive for the virus. Jacqueline, 77, was not vaccinated.

Her husband Rev. Jesse Jackson, 79, remains at The Shirley Ryan Ability Lab where he’s receiving intensive occupational and physical therapy. He has Parkinson's disease and was vaccinated, ABC Chicago station WLS reported.

"We urge all who have not yet been vaccinated for the COVID-19 virus to do so immediately,” the family said in a statement.

The family had announced the couple was hospitalized with COVID-19 on Aug. 21.

_{September 4, 2021}

Stillwater, Oklahoma, declares state of emergency, overflow tents set up

The mayor of Stillwater, Oklahoma, declared a state of emergency for the city that started Friday due to a soaring number of hospital patients and a shortage of medical staff.

Overflow tents have been set up outside the Stillwater Medical Center Emergency Department to deal with the influx.

The state’s department of health is deploying the Medical Reserve Corps. and additional medical professionals to help in overflow tents.

“Our health professionals have incessantly warned us that we may reach the point when much-needed medical attention, COVID or non-COVID related, may not be available,” Mayor Will Joyce said in a release . “We have now reached that critical threshold where our hospital no longer has available staffed beds.”

“It is critical that each of us become fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and wear masks when possible,” he added.

Officials said Stillwater Medical, which serves in a six-county area, is at full capacity.

In the crisis, residents and visitors who go to the hospital for treatment over the weekend may be diverted to nearby or out-of-state facilities.

There are zero ICU beds available across the four largest hospital systems in Oklahoma City, ABC local affiliate in Oklahoma City KOCO reported.

Concerns are mounting especially as Stillwater hosts events and activities that kick off Saturday and have the potential to attract an influx of 40,000 visitors.

_{September 3, 2021}

Oscar De La Hoya hospitalized with COVID-19, will miss comeback fight

Hall of Fame boxer Oscar De La Hoya said on social media Friday he is hospitalized with COVID-19.

Due to his illness, he won't be able to fight former UFC champion Vitor Belfort on Sept. 11 in Los Angeles, which would have been De La Hoya's first bout since 2008.

"Preparing for this comeback has been everything to me over the last months, and I want to thank everyone for their tremendous support," De La Hoya, 48, said in an Instagram post , noting that he is fully vaccinated. "I am currently in the hospital getting treatment and am confident I will be back in the ring before the year is up. God bless everyone and stay safe."

_{September 3, 2021}

Florida Governor appeals court ruling invalidating his ban on student mask mandates

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis filed an appeal against a court ruling invalidating his ban on student mask mandates Thursday evening.

The governor had banned school districts from implementing mask mandates without a parent opt-out.

The move unleashed a stay of proceedings that enables the state to continue punishing districts, at least until Wednesday, when a judge will decide whether to vacate the stay.

In the meantime, school board members across the state could continue to lose their salaries if their schools set mask mandates -- a punishment given to board members in two counties and threatened to those in eight others.

The appeal comes a week after Judge John C. Cooper found that a blanket ban on face masks in schools "does not meet constitutional muster.”

-ABC News' Will McDuffie

_{September 3, 2021}

1 out of 8 Americans has tested positive for COVID-19, 1 out of 510 Americans has died from the virus

The country’s COVID death toll has risen to more than 643,000 and the number of cases stands at 39.5 million, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.

That means 1 out of 8 Americans has tested positive for COVID-19 and 1 out of 510 Americans has died of the virus.

Heading into Labor Day weekend health experts are urging the public, especially the unvaccinated, to act responsibly as the delta variant continues to fuel infections.

Holidays have proven to be a catalyst for virus spread in the U.S.

Last summer, shortly after Labor Day, the U.S. fell into its most significant viral surge of the pandemic.

Between the week following last Labor Day and Thanksgiving alone, the nation's daily case average surged by more than 400%.

-ABC News' Arielle Mitropoulos

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