US daily COVID-19 cases up 18 pct: CDC director

WASHINGTON - The seven-day average of reported COVID-19 infections in the United States has increased by 18 percent, said US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Rochelle Walensky on Monday.

The latest seven-day average of cases is 92,800 per day, an 18 percent surge from last week and hospitalization rates have increased 6 percent with a daily average of 5,600, Walensky said at a White House briefing.

"Heading into the winter months, when respiratory viruses are more likely to spread, and with plans for increased holiday season travel and gatherings, boosting people's overall protection against COVID-19 disease and death was important to do now," Walensky said.

The unvaccinated continue to drive the pandemic, Walensky said. According to the most up-to-date information on the CDC data tracker, unvaccinated people are 6 times more likely to test positive for the virus, 9 times more likely to be hospitalized, and 14 times more likely to die.

About 47 million eligible American adults and 12 million eligible teens are still not vaccinated, Walensky said.

As of Monday morning, 196.4 million Americans are fully vaccinated, and 36.1 million have received a booster dose, according to CDC data.

COVID-19 has killed over 772,000 people in the United States as of Monday evening, showed a tally by Johns Hopkins University.