COVID cases surge 286% over last month as Florida and Louisiana report record number of new patients and Texas requests FIVE mortuary trailers in anticipation of a spike in deaths
Coronavirus cases continue to rise across the country as some states report record hospitalizations and others prepare for a spate of deaths.
On Monday, officials recorded 210,168 new cases of COVID-19 - the second time in the last six months cases have surpassed 200,000 - with a seven-day rolling average of 133,910.
This represents a 286 percent increase from the seven-day average of 34,682 recorded one month ago, according to a DailyMail.com analysis of data from Johns Hopkins University.
Every state but three - Arkansas, Nebraska and Vermont - and the District of Columbia have seen infections rise or hold steady over the last week, the analysis found.
Deaths are also trending upward with 686 virus-related fatalities recorded on Monday and a seven-day rolling average of 683.
This is a 146 percent spike from the average of 277 reported four weeks ago and the highest number seen since May 27.
The figures show how the pandemic in America has spiraled out of control after the White House claimed it had curbed the crisis around the Fourth of July.
States such as Florida and Louisiana are currently reporting record-high numbers of new COVID-19 patients being admitted to hospitals as wards run out of beds.
Meanwhile, state officials in Texas have requested five mortuary trailers from the federal government due to an anticipation of a spike in Covid deaths.
On Monday, the U.S. recorded 210,168 new cases of COVID-19 with a seven-day rolling average of 133,910, which is a 286% increase from the seven-day average of 34,682 recorded one month ago
There were also 686 virus-related deaths recorded on Monday with a seven-day rolling average of 683, which is a 146% increase from the average of 277 reported four weeks ago
Every state but three - Arkansas, Nebraska and Vermont - and the District of Columbia have seen infections rise or hold steady over the last week
Florida continues to be America's COVID-19 epicenter with 151,764 new cases reported last week with a record-high seven-day average of 21,681 cases per day.
According to data from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the state has the highest hospitalization rate in the country with 65 COVID-19 patients per 100,000 people - triple the national rate, according to CNN.
What's more, half of all ICU beds in Florida are occupied by Covid patients, HHS data show.
'[Staff are] mentally, physically and spiritually exhausted and when they have all these patients in front of them sick with COVID-19 and they see the mortality that's unnecessary, it's demoralizing, Maggie Hansen, Chief Nurse Executive at Memorial Healthcare System, told NBC Miami.
'They're sad and frustrated because something can be done. Get vaccinated so they can get back to the business of health care.'
In late July, Governor Ron DeSantis issued an executive order preventing mask mandates in schools - which has already resulted in some consequences.
Hillsborough County Public Schools - which contains Tampa - said that nearly 6,000 students and employees either tested positive for COVID-19 or may have been exposed to the virus.
Florida continues to be America's COVID-19 epicenter with 151,764 new cases recorded last week as hospitals report a record-high number of hospitalizations
In Louisiana, average cases have increased by 266% over the last month from 1,425 per day to 5,229 per day
In Texas, the seven-day rolling average of COVID-19 cases has risen 348% in a month to 12,478 per day from an average of 2,783 per day
As of Monday, 5,599 students and 316 staff members are either in isolation or in quarantine, according to a statement from the district.
And in Lee County, where Fort Myers is located, the school district says 585 students and staff are in quarantine with one school reporting 14 teachers who are out, according to WINK News.
In Louisiana, average cases have increased by 266 percent over the last month from 1,425 per day to 5,229 per day, Johns Hopkins data show.
On Monday, the state recorded 2,956 total hospitalizations, the highest number since the pandemic began and marking the 14th day in a row that the record has been broken.
It's also a 315 percent increase from the 711 hospitalizations seen one month ago, according to data from the Louisiana Department of Health.
Dr Garland Anderson, a family medicine specialist at Our Lady of the Angels hospital in Bogalusa - 70 miles north of New Orleans - says the hospital doesn't have enough beds for patients and can't even get ill people transferred to other hospitals because they are also operating capacity.
'The system is so packed that people who come in with a stroke, with a heart attack, with life-threatening conditions, we are unable to deal with it,' Anderson told NOLA.com.
'We are unable to transfer patients to any hospital in Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Missouri. There are no beds anywhere.'
Texas officials have requested five mortuary trailers from the federal government because state officials are expecting a rise in COVID-19 deaths. Pictured: A refrigerated trailer that the San Antonio health authorities acquired to store bodies in Bexar County, Texas, July 2020
Three of the five trailers will arrive in Texas on Friday and the remaining two on Saturday, according to FEMA. Pictured: El Paso County Medical Examiner's Office staff lock-up the mobile morgues before moving bodies that are in bags labeled Covid from refrigerated trailers into the morgue office in El Paso, Texas, November 2020
In Texas, the seven-day rolling average of COVID-19 cases has risen 348 percent in a month to 12,478 per day from an average of 2,783 per day.
The state expects that a rise in deaths will soon follow with officials requesting five mortuary trailers from the federal government, reported NBC News.
The trucks will be sent by the Federal Emergency Management Agency and distributed around Texas.
Texas is currently averaging 80 Covid-related deaths per day, a figure not seen since mid-March 2021.
Doug Loveday, a spokesperson for the Department of State Health Services, told NBC News that officials requested the trailers on August 4 after models projected an increase in COVID-19 fatalities.
'We are anticipating a need within the state of Texas for these trailers as Covid cases and hospitalizations continue to increase,' Loveday said.
A spokesperson for FEMA confirmed the request and said three of the five trailers will arrive in Texas on Friday and the remaining two on Saturday.
'FEMA and HHS continue to work closely with the state of Texas to provide needed resources,' the spokesperson told NBC News.
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