Delta variant drives 300% increase in US Covid cases from Labor Day last year

The US saw a 300 percent increase in the average weekly number of Covid cases this Labor Day weekend compared to the same period last year, CBS News reported, citing data from Johns Hopkins University.

Health officials had advised unvaccinated Americans not to travel for the holiday, as the highly-contagious Delta variant continues to surge across the country.

The increase in cases has translated into soaring hospitalisations, with some states running out of intensive care beds. There has also been a rise in infections in children.

Only 53 percent of the US population is fully vaccinated.