Coronavirus Updates: Concern about Delta variant and children

NEW YORK (WABC) -- The main concern with the Delta variant is how it is affecting children.

Mississippi health officials are reporting seven children with COVID are currently being treated in the ICU. Two of them are on ventilators.

"We're seeing more symptomatic children and children seem to be able to spread the disease to each other much more readily," said Dr. Alan Jones, University of Mississippi Medical Center.

The concern is growing for kids not yet eligible for a COVID shot.

"I suspect that's probably because this Delta variant is imparting a little more severe illness in the pediatric population," Dr. Jones said.

Here are more of today's headlines:

Woman goes viral after getting kicked off cruise ship over positive COVID test

A woman from the Bronx went viral for video she took while being booted from a cruise over a positive COVID-19 test.

Laura Angelo says it was all a mistake, but cruise lines have strict measures in place to protect passengers.

New LA County health order requires face coverings indoors as COVID cases spike

Citing continued increases in transmission of COVID-19, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health is re-implementing a mandate requiring residents to wear masks while indoors, regardless of their vaccination status.

The county previously only recommended mask-wearing indoors. The new mandate will take effect at 11:59 p.m. Saturday night, officials announced Thursday.

Clinical study testing COVID vaccine on kids under 12

There is growing concern about keeping children and teens safe from COVID-19 as cases around the country increase. With younger people still not eligible to get the vaccine, studies are being done to see how safe the vaccine is for them.

Yankees-Red Sox game postponed

The Yankees-Red Sox game that was set for Thursday night has been postponed following positive COVID-19 tests within the Yankees organization. Major League Baseball said the game was postponed to allow for continued testing and contact tracing. The team says there have been three confirmed positives and the results from three more tests are pending. The team had canceled batting practice as members of the organization underwent testing. Earlier in the day left-handed pitchers Nestor Cortes and Wandy Peralta were placed on the COVID-19 injured list. The game has not yet been rescheduled.

Comedian Gabriel Iglesias says he has COVID-19 despite being vaccinated

Comedian Gabriel Iglesias on Wednesday announced that he has been diagnosed with COVID-19, despite having been previously vaccinated for the disease.

In a video posted on his social media accounts, Iglesias said the diagnosis prompted him to cancel his scheduled shows in San Antonio, Texas. The 90-second clip was captioned: "Announcement I didn't want to make on my bday."

Marriage Bureau reopening

Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that the New York City Marriage Bureau is reopening this month. Appointments can start being scheduled on Monday, July 19. Marriage licenses will begin to be issued on Friday, July 23.

COVID cases rise in US

Months of progress are now seemingly being reversed as COVID cases are rising steadily, especially in parts of the country with low vaccination rates. COVID cases across the country have doubled in just the last three weeks.

Officials in 28 states are now reporting at least a 10% jump in infections in recent days, fueled by the more contagious Delta variant. In Tennessee, the state's top vaccine official says she was fired for trying to spread information about the shot. The state is now reportedly stopping all adolescent vaccine outreach programs.

Vaccines highly effective against COVID hospitalizations, deaths in NYC, study finds

Mayor Bill de Blasio released some compelling numbers on why he says people may want to consider getting vaccinated if they haven't. Officials say the study illustrates how well vaccines work at preventing hospitalization and death. The research was compiled by epidemiologists at Yale University, supported by the Commonwealth Fund. Between January 1, 2021, and June 15, 2021, 98.4% of hospitalizations (36,628 out of 37,211) and 98.8% of deaths (8,069 out of 8,163) from COVID-19 infection were in those who were not fully vaccinated. Fully vaccinated people accounted for 1.6% (583) hospitalizations and 1.2% (94) deaths. The epidemiologists estimated that New York City's vaccination campaign has prevented about 250,000 COVID-19 cases, 44,000 hospitalizations and 8,300 deaths from COVID-19 infection since the start of vaccination through July 1, 2021.

NYC vaccination rates by zip code

There are about a dozen communities in the New York City area where three out of four people have not been vaccinated yet. 7 On Your Side Investigates created a map where the darkest colored zip codes have the most vaccinated New Yorkers and the lightest, the least.

New York City COVID-19 Vaccine Tracker

New Jersey COVID-19 Vaccine Tracker

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on coronavirus

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