<Anchor> As the
delta mutation spread rapidly in the United States, the number of new confirmed cases doubled in one week. The number of hospitalized as well as confirmed cases is increasing, mainly among those who have not been vaccinated.
Correspondent Yunsu Kim from Washington.
<Reporter>
Over the past week, the average daily number of new COVID-19 cases in the U.S. has nearly doubled from the previous week, when the number was just over 23,000 or 10,000.
Due to the spread of the delta mutation, the number of cases increased again in 45 of the 50 states in the United States.
In particular, new confirmed cases are pouring out in states where the vaccination rate is below 50%.
[Reiner/Professor George Washington University: One-third of all new confirmed cases in the United States are coming from five concentrated outbreaks. Florida, Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, and Nevada.] In
areas with high concentrations of outbreaks such as Missouri, hospitals are saturated with influx of patients.
As they did in New York last year, other local doctors are coming to the aid.
[Mohart/Doctor: That's a really surprising number. We need to do more when the intensive care unit capacity is exceeded. Medical staff have to go to the hospital to apply.] In
particular, unlike during the previous pandemic, this time there are many young patients among the hospitalized patients.
Most of the older people have been vaccinated, so the infection is concentrated in younger people who haven't been vaccinated.
[Jarvis / Missouri Doctor: You can see a lot of patients in their 30s, 40s, and early 50s. There are teenagers, and even pediatric patients.]
Health experts have advised that states with low vaccination rates should consider whether local governments issue vaccination orders.