Seven states make up half of COVID cases in the US: White House

Officials say the highly transmissible Delta variant is driving a surge in states with low coronavirus vaccination rates.

Seven United States states with the lowest COVID-19 vaccination rates account for half of the country’s new cases and hospitalisations in the last week, despite making up less than 25 percent of the nation’s population, the White House said on Thursday. The states are Florida, Texas, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi, according to President Joe Biden’s COVID-19 coordinator, Jeff Zients, who spoke during a press briefing. Of those states, Florida and Texas account for about a third of new coronavirus cases and an even higher share of hospitalisations in the country.