The United States has finally hit the Biden administration’s goal of administering COVID-19 vaccines to 70% of U.S. adults — one month later than it had hoped. The milestone came as the U.S. reported more than 135,000 new cases — the highest number of daily infections since February. On Monday, Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards reimposed a statewide mask mandate, as his state set a record for new infections and hospitals became overwhelmed with COVID patients.

Gov. John Bel Edwards: “We are the worst in the country in terms of this COVID surge. And that is because of the Delta variant, which is a game changer, and the fact that, quite frankly, not enough people have been vaccinated here in Louisiana.”