INDIANAPOLIS — Here are Sunday's latest updates on the coronavirus pandemic, including the latest news on COVID-19 vaccinations and testing in Indiana.
Registrations for the vaccine are now open for Hoosiers 12 and older through the Indiana State Department of Health. This story will be updated over the course of the day with more news on the COVID-19 pandemic.
Virus surge hits New England despite high vaccination rates
Despite having some of the highest vaccination rates in the country, the six New England states are still grappling with effects of the delta surge in cases and the strains on the health care system caused by rapidly increasing COVID-19 case counts and more hospitalizations and deaths.
In some areas, hospitalizations are approaching the pandemic peak from last winter and some intensive care units have been full.
Yet, experts say the high vaccination rate has kept the region from seeing the high death rates seen in some parts of the country. Officials are still urging people to get vaccinated.
Alaska allows hospitals to ration care amid COVID spike
Alaska has activated emergency crisis protocols that allow 20 health care facilities to ration care if needed. Saturday's declaration comes as the state has recorded the nation’s worst COVID-19 diagnosis rates in the U.S. in recent days, straining the state’s limited health care system.
The declaration covers three facilities that had already declared emergency protocols, including the state’s largest hospital, Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage.
Factors that led the state to activate the crisis of care standards include scarce medical resources at some facilities, limited staff and difficulty transferring patients because of limited bed availability. Other factors include limited renal replacement therapy and oxygen supplies.
Russia reports new record daily COVID death toll
Russia has reported a record daily death toll from COVID-19. It’s the fifth time in a week that deaths have hit a new high in the country.
The national coronavirus task force said Sunday that 890 deaths were recorded over the past day. That exceeds the 887 reported on Friday. The task force also said the number of new infections in the past day was the second-highest of the year at 25,769.
But officials say there are no plans to impose a lockdown. Mask-wearing regulations are in place but loosely enforced.
The country of 145 million has recorded about 7.5 million infection cases and nearly 210,000 deaths during the pandemic.
US virus mortality milestone reaches 700K, frustrates doctors
The U.S. death toll from COVID-19 has eclipsed 700,000, with the last 100,000 people dying at a time when vaccines, which overwhelmingly prevent serious illness, were available to any American over the age of 12 who wanted them.
The milestone reached late Friday is deeply frustrating to doctors, public health officials and other Americans who watched a pandemic that had been easing earlier in the summer take a dark turn.
Tens of millions of people in the U.S. have refused to get vaccinated, allowing the highly contagious delta variant to tear through the country and send the death toll from 600,000 to 700,000 in 3 1/2 months.
Florida suffered by far the most deaths of any state during that period, with the virus killing about 17,000 residents since the middle of June. Texas was second with 13,000 deaths.
The two states account for 15% of the country’s population, but more than 30% of the nation’s deaths since the nation crossed the 600,000 threshold.
Latest US, world numbers
There have been more than 43.65 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the United States as of 6 a.m. Sunday, according to Johns Hopkins University. There have been more than 700,935 deaths recorded in the U.S.
Worldwide, there have been more than 234.64 million confirmed coronavirus cases with more than 4.79 million deaths. More than 6.28 billion vaccine doses have been administered worldwide.
For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness like pneumonia, or death.