The latest AP stories on COVID-19 outbreak in the United States

Arizona reported more than 100 daily coronavirus deaths for the second time since February.

The 108 confirmed deaths and 2,742 new coronavirus cases were reported Saturday. Hospitalisations dropped below 2,000 for the first time in nearly three weeks, with 1,981 COVID-19 patients occupying hospital beds on Friday.

That's down from the current surge's high of 2,103 on Sept. 11.

Meanwhile, Johns Hopkins University data showed drops in the seven-day rolling averages of daily cases and deaths in the past two weeks. The daily cases dropped from 3,152 on September 2 to 2,732 on Thursday. The daily deaths dropped from 39 to 33 during the same period.

Phoenix officials say the city's two mobile COVID-19 vans and other city testing locations will begin offering vaccines. The city will use federal pandemic relief money to pay for adding vaccinations to the testing program.

Arizona has reported a total of 1.06 million confirmed cases and 19,487 confirmed deaths since the start of the pandemic.

___ Orlando: Florida reported 11,275 new daily cases on Friday, about half the number from last month.

Florida was averaging more than 21,000 cases a day in August. Epidemiologists say the state's rates of vaccination has outpaced the national average, but it hasn't been enough to keep the highly contagious delta variant at bay because of the Florida's large elderly population and low vaccination rates among younger groups.

AdventHealth's Central Florida Division says the number of COVID-19 patients at its hospitals stands at 850 people, several hundred patients fewer than this summer.

Florida has reported nearly 3.5 million confirmed cases and 51,240 confirmed deaths.

___ Sacramento: Two of Gov. Gavin Newsom's children have tested positive for the coronavirus.

A statement issued Friday says Newsom, his wife and two other children have since tested negative for the virus.

All four of the governor's children are under 12, the age when children can be vaccinated.

“The Newsoms continue to support masking for unvaccinated individuals indoors to stop the spread and advocate for vaccinations as the most effective way to end this pandemic,” said a statement from Erin Mellon, spokesperson in the governor's office.

The announcement comes only days after Newsom handily defeated an effort to recall him, partly driven by the impact of the pandemic. ___ Atlanta: A disaster relief organisation founded by actor Sean Penn is helping Georgia's drive to vaccinate people against the coronavirus. CORE, or Community Organized Relief Effort, has offered vaccines at hundreds of pop-up clinics around the state, including schools, farmers' markets and meat plants. Only 46% of the state is fully vaccinated, well below the national average of 54%. It's a big factor in Georgia's nearly three-month surge in COVID infections and hospitalizations.

CORE offers vaccines for free. Funding for community outreach comes from a foundation backed by the billionaire owner of the Atlanta Falcons, Arthur Blank, and the Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta. The group plans to spend more time offering vaccines to employees at work sites, where turnout is better, said Margaret Herro, CORE's Georgia director.

CORE is also offering vaccines in Washington, D.C., Oakland, California, New Orleans, Chicago, Los Angeles and a county in North Carolina. Penn started the organization in 2010 after a catastrophic earthquake killed thousands in Haiti.

___ Columbia: South Carolina is setting records for COVID-19 hospitalizations, and new cases are approaching the peak levels of last winter. Since ending South Carolina's state of emergency on June 7, Republican Gov. Henry McMaster has maintained that parents alone should decide if children wear masks in schools, even as the state's new cases soared from 150 a day on average to more than 5,000.

Now teachers, students and parents are struggling with the fallout as more young people contract the delta variant, forcing nearly two dozen schools and two entire districts back to online learning within a month of returning in person.

State health and education officials say the statewide mask ban in schools took away one of their best tools to stop the spread of COVID-19. The state hit nearly 2,600 COVID-19 patients hospitalized in early September, a record.

“We spiked the football too early. Instead of continuing to listen to medical professionals and interpreting the data, he has been guided by Republican Governors Association talking points,” Democratic state Sen. Marlon Kimpson of Charleston said.

Some lawmakers from both parties are pushing for a special session to repeal the rule and allow local governments to make decisions. The state Supreme Court is considering a lawsuit over whether the mask provision is legal.

___ Joint Base Elmendorf- Richardson (Alaska): Military leaders on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson have declared a public health emergency in response to increasing COVID-19 cases in Alaska.

They also encouraged all personnel to avoid places that do not require masks or social distancing, officials said.

U.S. Air Force Col. Kirsten Aguilar said Friday that the declaration will remain in effect for 30 days, but could be shortened or extended based on cases and community transmission of COVID-19.

Hospitalizations and COVID-19 cases across the state have increased as a result of the highly contagious delta variant. Alaska on Friday reported more than 1,200 newly confirmed cases per 100,000 people over the past two weeks.

___ Pago Pago (American Samoa): American Samoa reported its first case of coronavirus on Friday.

The U.S. territory's acting governor and health officials said the islands' first case of COVID-19 was of a resident who returned to American Samoa from Hawaii this week.

The infected traveller flew in on Monday, the first day of newly resumed commercial flights from Honolulu to Pago Pago. The route had been suspended since March 2020.

Officials say the resident was fully vaccinated and had travelled to Hawaii and the U.S. mainland. They say the traveller tested negative for COVID-19 before boarding the flight back to American Samoa.

American Samoa requires all travellers to be vaccinated and to quarantine.

___ Baton Rouge: A child is among the latest to die from COVID-19 in Louisiana, state health officials said Friday.

Heath department figures showed the state death toll from the illness grew by 52. One of the victims was a child between the ages of 5 and 11. Fifteen people younger than 18 have died in Louisiana since the pandemic began. And it's the sixth pediatric death since a fourth surge began this summer.

Coronavirus hospitalizations continued to drop. They fell to 1,367 in Friday's figures, 64 fewer than the previous day. Hospitalizations are down from a peak of more than 3,000 in August but still well above the pre-surge levels of mid-summer.

___ Washington: The White House says President Joe Biden will host a virtual summit next week aimed at “calling the world to account” on defeating the COVID-19 pandemic.

The meeting, to take place on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly, is meant to encourage more countries to do more to vaccinate the world against COVID-19 and improve coronavirus treatments.

Press secretary Jen Psaki says Biden “will be asking participants to commit to of a higher level of ambition” on global vaccinations and therapeutics, along with preparing for the next pandemic.

The U.S. has committed to donating the more COVID-19 vaccine doses than any other nation to the rest of the world, and Biden is expected to ask other well-off nations to make bolder vaccine sharing commitments.

The White House says world leaders, philanthropists, industry representatives and non-governmental organizations will participate.

___ Washington: After overwhelmingly rejecting a plan to give Pfizer booster shots against COVID-19 to most Americans, an influential federal advisory panel has approved the extra shots for those who are 65 or older or run a high risk of severe disease.

The decision was made by a committee of outside experts who advise the Food and Drug Administration.

The vote recommending the booster shots for older Americans and other high-risk groups helps salvage part of the White House's plan but is still is less than the sweeping plan proposed by Biden administration to offer booster shots of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines to nearly all Americans eight months after they get their second dose.

Members of the panel questioned the value of offering boosters to nearly everyone. The World Health Organization has encouraged wealthier nations to hold off on boosters, except for the most vulnerable people, until other countries have received their first shots.