Orlando residents are asked to cut back on water usage as the virus surges in Florida

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During a Friday afternoon news conference, Linda Ferrone of the Orlando Utilities Commission asked residents to refrain from using excess water and to be prepared to do so for at least several weeks.

A Delta variant-driven surge has made Florida one of the nation’s worst-hit states, with new cases recently topping their winter peak.

Hospitalizations in Orange County, where Orlando is, are up 58 percent over the past two weeks, according to a New York Times database.

Deaths in the Orlando area have overwhelmed crematoriums, which are running out of room to store bodies, local media reported.
 

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In Los Angeles, This Covid-19 Surge Is Different From Earlier Outbreaks

Center of pandemic in region has moved from poor, crowded neighborhoods to affluent ones with younger populations

Across Los Angeles County, cities and neighborhoods including West Hollywood, Venice and Santa Monica now report some of the most infections, even though their vaccination rates are higher than in poorer areas such as East Los Angeles, where Covid-19 raced through families and neighborhoods during earlier surges, county health data shows.

The shift is a consequence of the Delta variant, which spreads more easily among people who gather indoors in such places as bars, clubs and restaurants and can affect people who are vaccinated, according to doctors.

Samir Zakir spent most of the past year working from home, keeping away from large gatherings and wearing a mask.

He received the Moderna vaccine early this year and waited for the city and state to reopen in mid-June before venturing out more routinely.

“To this day, I don’t have taste,” said Mr. Zakir, referring to a Covid-19 side effect.

People became sick just as they were “getting back to their lives,” said Dr. Pedraza, director of the hospital’s intensive-care unit.

That is how Shivam Kumar, 23, who was vaccinated with the Johnson & Johnson shot earlier this year, thinks he got infected.

“When everything opened up, I kind of went crazy,” said Mr. Kumar, who is a friend of Mr. Zakir and went to a bar with him in late June. “I was like, every event I get invited to I’m going to.”

Countywide, health officials reinstituted a mask mandate for nearly all indoor spaces last month, a requirement the city of West Hollywood also adopted.

Masks are now required at outdoor sporting events and concerts involving more than 10,000 people.

Some bars and restaurants around the county have opted to go a step farther, mandating proof of vaccine to enter.

Several other businesses, including several spas and a stand-up comedy venue operating since the early 1970s, are now requiring proof of vaccine or a negative test, according to the West Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. The city is also considering mandating vaccines or proof of a negative Covid-19 test to enter city buildings.