National numbers, August 8

August 8, 2021.Reading time 4 minutes.

Delta continues to dominate COVID-19 cases in the U.S. The CDC updated its variant estimates this week, reporting that Delta made up 93% of U.S. cases at the end of July. It’s driving rising cases, hospitalizations, and deaths.

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COVID source callout: States go dark on prison case numbers

August 1, 2021.Reading time 2 minutes.

We’ve noted in recent months that several states have scaled down their COVID-19 reporting: states are providing fewer metrics, updating their dashboards less frequently, or both. According to the UCLA COVID Behind Bars data project, these changes are also hitting state carceral agencies—responsible for reporting COVID-19 cases in prisons and jails—right as Delta causes new outbreaks in these facilities.

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Featured sources, August 1

August 1, 2021.Reading time 1 minute.

Featured sources for the week of August 1 include state-by-state vaccination numbers, breakthrough cases, and internet access.

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Vaccine requirements are the next big strategy

August 1, 2021.Reading time 5 minutes.

After vaccine incentives largely failed to drive up vaccination numbers, government agencies and corporations alike are now opting for requirements. Hundreds of thousands of Americans learned this week that, in order to keep their jobs, they need to get their shots—or go through a more arduous process like weekly COVID-19 testing.

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Breakthrough case reporting: Once again, outside researchers do the CDC’s job

August 1, 2021.Reading time 6 minutes.

Now, Delta is causing the vast majority of cases—and the CDC still isn’t reporting on non-severe breakthroughs. As a result, entities outside the federal government are once again compiling data from states in order to fill in gaps left by the national public health agency. On Friday, both Bloomberg and NBC published breakthrough case analyses.

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Unpacking Delta numbers from this week’s headlines

August 1, 2021.Reading time 14 minutes.

It’s no surprise that Delta (B.1.617.2) is bad news. From the moment it was identified in India, this variant has been linked to rapid transmission and rapid case rises, even in areas where the vaccination rates are high. This week, however, the CDC’s changed mask guidance—combined with new reports on breakthrough cases associated with Delta—has triggered widespread conversation about precisely how much damage this variant can do.

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National numbers, August 1

August 1, 2021.Reading time 4 minutes.

Not only is the Delta variant driving a case rise, it’s driving an exponential case rise. This week, about 466,000 new COVID-19 cases were reported; that number is more than five times higher than what we saw during the week ending July 2.

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