Here is how the news is developing today. All times Eastern.
5:13 a.m.: US COVID-19 deaths begin to climb again
National coronavirus case counts, hospitalizations and deaths continue to climb, according to the COVID Tracking Project. At least 867 people died of COVID-19 Thursday in the U.S.
Nationally, the seven-day average has begun to climb after an extended decline, the COVID Tracking Project said.
The last three days were the highest numbers the organization has reported since early June. This rise in deaths is concentrated in states with large outbreaks. Texas, California and Florida all reported their single highest day of deaths for the entire pandemic on Thursday.
This news comes as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevents updated its COVID-19 death toll forecast Thursday to say it expects between 140,000 to 160,000 deaths by Aug. 1
The CDC forecasts suggest that the number of new deaths over the next four weeks in Arizona, Alabama, Florida, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Nevada, Ohio, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, the U.S. Virgin Islands and West Virginia, will likely exceed the number reported over the last four weeks. For other states, the number of new deaths is expected to be similar to the number seen in the previous four weeks or to decrease slightly.
For other states, the number of new deaths is expected to be similar to the number seen in the previous four weeks or to decrease slightly, according to the CDC. These figures are identical to last week’s death forecast.
