U.S. South braces for record numbers of hospitalized COVID patients

COVID hospitalizations in Louisiana and Florida have surged to their highest points of the pandemic, leading overwhelmed doctors on Monday to plead with the unvaccinated to get inoculated against the Delta variant. More than 10,000 patients were hospitalized in Florida on Sunday, surpassing that state's record. The surging Delta variant led Louisiana's governor to reinstate a statewide indoor mask mandate, with that state expected to break its record on COVID hospitalizations within 24 hours. Hospitalizations in Arkansas are also soaring and could eventually break records