The number of coronavirus patients in U.S. hospitals breached 100,000, the highest level in eight months, according to the Department of Health and Human Services, as a resurgence of Covid-19 spurred by the highly contagious Delta variant strains the nation’s health care system.

Half of children aged 12 to 17 have received at least their first vaccination dose against Covid-19, and that age group has the fastest growth rate in vaccinations, the White House said on Aug. 27.

Cigna

Cigna Corp. said on Aug. 26 the company would now sell health insurance plans on online marketplaces created by the Affordable Care Act (ACA), popularly known as Obamacare, in three new U.S. states and 93 new counties.

New York City will require public school teachers and staff to get vaccinated against Covid-19, Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Aug. 23, part of a push to get more residents inoculated and slow the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant.

Florida’s largest school district on Aug. 18 imposed a mask mandate in defiance of the state’s governor, another chapter in the coronavirus political battle in the southern United States where new infections are highest.

The number of children hospitalized with Covid-19 in the United States hit a record high of more than 1,900 on Aug. 14, as hospitals across the South were stretched to capacity fighting outbreaks caused by the highly transmissible Delta variant.

California on Aug. 11 became the first U.S. state to require that its teachers and other school staff be vaccinated or regularly tested for Covid-19, a move Governor Gavin Newsom called “a responsible step” to ensure the safety of children.

Only eight intensive care unit beds were available on Aug. 9 in Arkansas, the state’s governor said, as the rapid spread of the Delta variant of the coronavirus pushed cases and hospitalizations in the United States to a six-month high.

The number of new Covid-19 cases climbed to a six-month high in the United States, with more than 100,000 infections reported on Aug. 5 as the Delta variant ravages Florida and other states with lower vaccination rates.

Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc. said on Aug. 4 the drugstore chain had administered more than 29 million Covid-19 vaccines at its stores so far, led by a surge in parts of the United States that had lagged in vaccinations.