U.S. COVID deaths reach 700k milestone

The United States has recorded over 700,000 deaths linked to COVID-19 on Friday, according to a count from data compiled by by Reuters.

In its analysis of public health data, the wire service reported that over the last week, the country had seen the average number of more than 2,000 COVID-19 deaths per day.

According to the latest health data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) the country has recorded 10,333 deaths related to the coronavirus over the past seven days. 

News of the grim milestone in the country comes as the nation has continued to see an average of over 100,000 new cases in the U.S. per day over the past week.

The number has been driven in large part by the highly contagious delta variant, which has been able to penetrate COVID-19 vaccinations and cause breakthrough infections. 

The grim milestone also comes even as the U.S. has made the coronavirus vaccine widely available for Americans over the age of 12.

President Joe Biden last month announced a new rule to be carried out through the Labor Department mandating that all businesses with 100 or more employees require vaccination or frequent testing. The move was the latest by the administration to get Americans inoculated against the disease. 

Among people aged 12 years and older in the U.S. overall, 76 percent are at least partially vaccinated and 65 percent are fully vaccinated, per CDC data.

Despite the decrease of COVID-19 cases in the nation, some hospitals are still being pushed to the brink of their capacity.