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downward but what about the future here s stephanie gosk. reporter: this is scene in an arkansas hospital back in mid-july just as the summer covid surge was taking hold. we hit the floor running and all of us are working extra hours. reporter: at its busiest, the hospital had 70 covid patients. today there are eight. wait and see. but it does feel better it does feel much better as far as there s a lot more hope. reporter: it s not just arkansas. covid case numbers are dropping fast in other hard-hit southern states like louisiana and florida. nationwide, the numbers are down nearly 40% since september 1st. can we be hopeful maybe there won t be a surge this fall or winter so there are no guarantees by any means. i m quite encouraged by the decline in cases we re seeing because many have been infected, unfortunately, and now have natural immunity. also we know that vaccinations are
cases, deaths, hospitalizations. it s really good news. especially for those southern states that were hit so hard, but, you know, we re coming up to fall. people are going inside, winter s coming, flu s coming and people are wondering, is it going to spike again? right? and, you know, health officials are actually sounding cautiously optimistic that the worst may be behind us. this was the scene in an arkansas hospital back in mid-july. just as the summer covid surge was taking hold. we hit the floor running, and all of us working extra hours. reporter: it s a its busiest the hospital had 70 covid patients. today there be 8. we hold our breath and wait and see but it feels much better as far as there s a lot more hope. reporter: it s not just arkansas. covid case numbers are dropping fast in other hard-hit southern states, like louisiana and florida. nationwide, the numbers are down
much for joining us. we will see you back here at 6:00. tonight, the summer covid surge, and the troubling new numbers. the u.s. recording a fourth straight day of more than 100,000 new infections. hospitals reaching the breaking point. admissions climbing 40% since last week to more than 7,000 per day. florida leading the country in hospitalizations. the state reporting an alarming new case record more than 134,000 infections over the last week. health-care workers pushed to the brink. two hospitals expanding to handle the flood of admissions. the wildfire devastation in the west. in california, several people unaccounted for, and the third largest wildfire in state history. the flames now threatening more than 10,000 homes and other buildings. zohreen shah is on the front lines tonight. also tonight, new york
up close look at the summer covid surge and the fallout. in a moment we ll go to florida, a new epicenter of new infections. first to missouri and the return of the mask debate. starting today masks are required in st. louis city and st. louis county if you re visiting indoor public spaces or using public transportation. regardless of your vaccination status. that runs through mid september. the numbers are startling. the daily average of cases tripled. only 41% of the residents are vaccinated. that s the public health argument for bringing back mask mandates, but there are loud objections. this is ain t science. it discourages people. it has the opposite effect. to have this sort of mask mandate for people who have already opinion vaccinated for