Coronavirus cases are soaring, especially in the South
26 August 2021
Data: NYTimes; Chart: Kavya Beheraj/Axios
New coronavirus infections continue to rise across the U.S., perpetuating a preventable wave of suffering that’s already straining hospitals and killing an average of 1,000 Americans per day.
The big picture: The biggest increases are happening primarily in a cluster of states where vaccination rates are low and safety measures like masks are spotty.
By the numbers: The U.S. is now averaging over 150,000 new coronavirus cases per day — a 22% increase over the past two weeks.
- Infections are rising in 46 states. Tennessee had the biggest spikes in the number of new cases, followed closely by a cluster of nearby Southeastern states as well as Alaska, South Dakota and Wyoming.
What’s happening: In general, the states with the lowest vaccination rates are now seeing the biggest growth in new infections, and many of those same states are so overwhelmed with seriously ill COVID patients that they’re running out of ICU beds.
- All of the available real-world evidence continues to show that the vaccines prevent serious illness extremely well. The overwhelming majority of people sick enough to be in the hospital are unvaccinated, as are almost all of the people who die from their infections.
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.