WASHINGTON - US President Joe Biden is pushing harder on vaccines and masks as COVID-19 cases are surging across the country due to the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant.

COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths continue to increase in most of the United States, especially in communities with lower vaccination coverage, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in a weekly report on Friday.

The outlook is especially dire in the South. The states of Florida and Louisiana recently set seven-day case records, according a report by The New York Times. In Florida, coronavirus hospitalizations are roughly equal to their previous peak from last summer. In Louisiana, intensive care units are strained and young adults are contracting serious cases of the virus.