U.S. COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, deaths continue to rise: CDC director

WASHINGTON, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- U.S. COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths nationwide are rising at a record level as most of the country is experiencing substantial or high transmission, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky said Thursday.

"We continue to see cases, hospitalizations, and deaths increase across the country. And now over 90 percent of counties in the United States are experiencing substantial or high transmission," Walensky said in a White House COVID-19 Response Team briefing.

According to Walensky, the seven-day average of new COVID-19 cases reached about 113,000 new cases per day, nearly 24 percent increase from the previous week.

Hospital admissions rose 31 percent, to an average of 9,700 hospitalizations per day, and fatalities increased to 452 per day, a 22 percent increase from the prior seven-day period, Walensky said.

"As we've been saying by far, those at highest risk remain people who have not yet been vaccinated," she said.

As of Wednesday, 50.3 percent of the U.S. population were fully vaccinated, showed CDC data.