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Crowded Coney Island Beach in Brooklyn, New York City on July 4th
Photo: ANDREW KELLY / REUTERS
The delta variant of the coronavirus is also on the rise in the United States.
According to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, this mutant accounts for around 83 percent of new infections.
The sheer number of infections is also cause for concern.
According to the Washington Post, these rose from around 13,000 per day to almost 44,000 in July.
Now the disease authority Centers for Disease Control (CDC) has turned to the public.
Boss Rochelle Walensky said on Thursday (local time): “The Delta variant is more aggressive and much more contagious than previous virus variants.
It's one of the most contagious respiratory diseases I've seen in my 20 years of work. "
She warned that the country was currently at "another crossroads in this pandemic with rising case numbers and some hospitals at the limit of capacity."
She called the spread of the Delta mutant "dramatic"; at the beginning of July, its share was around 50 percent.
The authority is particularly concerned about the skepticism or refusal to vaccinate in certain population groups.
After a very successful start, the level of people who have been vaccinated at least once will persist.
US President Joe Biden's interim target of 70 percent vaccination quota for the beginning of July has not yet been achieved.
Biden calls vaccinations "gigantic important"
Walensky then appealed to the population: "We have to come together as a nation to protect our own health and that of our children, our community, our country (...) with the means we have at our disposal." President Biden named the vaccinations on Wednesday "gigantically important".
Virus expert Anthony Fauci also recently commented on developments in the country.
He told the broadcaster NPR: “This is not the direction we want to take.
(...) We have to do a lot better. "
Billions approved for further testing
As a first measure against the rising number of cases, the US government is making another 1.6 billion US dollars available.
Among other things, this is intended to pay for tests and protective measures where people live together in a confined space.
The Washington Post cites homeless shelters and prisons as examples.
Despite the worrying situation, there are currently no concrete plans to tighten the mask regulations.
Completely vaccinated people have been largely exempt from the mask requirement since mid-May.
About a month ago, an analysis by the Associated Press news agency showed that of over 853,000 Covid patients treated in hospitals, fewer than 1200 had already been vaccinated - this corresponds to 0.1 percent.
Of the 18,000 patients who died, 150 were vaccinated, or 0.8 percent.
The vast majority of deaths thus affect people who have not yet received a vaccination.
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