CNN: Every county in Florida, Arkansas rated ‘high transmission’ for community spread

Every county in Florida and Arkansas is currently registered as having “high” levels of community transmission of COVID-19, CNN reported on Monday, citing data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The CDC labels counties as having high transmission if there have been 100 or more cases of COVID-19 per 100,00 residents, or if its test positivity rate is 10 percent or higher for the previous seven days, according to CNN.

Florida, which is comprised of 67 counties, recorded an average of 10,452 new COVID-19 cases over the past week, more than triple the average daily number of infections reported two weeks ago, according to CNN, citing data from Johns Hopkins University.

The case rate in Florida from the past week is outpacing the national. rate, according to CNN. The Sunshine State recorded roughly 49 new cases per 100,000 people per day, while the U.S. is tracking about 16 new cases per 100,000 people daily.

Florida, however, leads states in the number of COVID-19 deaths reported over the past week, with 282 people losing their lives. That number, according to CNN, is the sixth highest per capita rate of deaths in the U.S.

The state is currently trailing the U.S. overall when it comes to vaccinations, with 48.5 percent of its residents fully inoculated. In the U.S., 49.1 percent of the population has completed its vaccination series.

Circumstances are also difficult in Arkansas, which saw its positivity rate rise to 19.3 percent in the past week, CNN reported, citing the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.

The state, which is made up of 75 counties, recorded 11,784 new cases and 56 new deaths over the past week.

Roughly 36 percent of the Arkansas population is fully vaccinated, according to CNN.

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson (R) on Sunday said COVID-19 cases are increasing because of the state’s low vaccination rate. He said that statistic is “holding us back.”

He did note, however, that the state’s vaccination push has been successful in recent days, with a 40 percent increase in inoculations. The state has made an effort to encourage vaccinations during Town Hall meetings.

Los Angeles County is also seeing a spike in COVID-19 cases, according to CNN. The county, which is made up of about 10 million people, recorded 3,058 new COVID-19 infections on Friday, which marked the third day in a row that the area reported more than 2,500 cases.

Almost every single county in a number of other states, such as Missouri, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama, are also seeing high transmission rates, according to CNN.

Close to 44 percent of all counties in the U.S. currently have the label of high transmission, the network reported, citing the latest CDC county-level update.

The surge in cases nationwide, driven in part by the highly infectious delta variant, has largely affected populations of the U.S. that are not vaccinated.

On Sunday, Anthony Fauci, President Biden’s chief medical adviser, said COVID-19 is now an “outbreak among the unvaccinated.”

CDC Director Rochelle Walensky sounded a similar note earlier his month, concluding that COVID-19 “is becoming a pandemic of the unvaccinated.”

“We are seeing outbreaks of cases in parts of the country that have low vaccination coverage, because unvaccinated people are at risk,” she added at a press conference.