U.S. hits 40 million Covid cases as delta variant spreads

The U.S. has logged 40 million Covid-19 cases since the start of the pandemic, as the fourth wave brought on by the delta variant continues to spread.

The country has recorded 40,000,070 cases and 651,690 deaths, according to the latest NBC News tally. It recorded 35,355 news cases and 279 deaths Sunday. About 207 million people have received their first doses of a vaccine, and more than 175 million have been fully vaccinated.

Vaccination rates have risen slowly since July, but still no state or territory has passed the 70 percent fully vaccinated threshold, and the country is nowhere close to its peak in April, when more than 3 million people were getting shots every day.

The fourth wave, which many experts say could have been prevented with better vaccination rates, has overwhelmed hospitals.

At Billings Clinic in Montana, the intensive care unit is nearing 150 percent capacity as the hospitals in the state have called on the National Guard for help.