Nineteen staff members have tested positive for COVID-19 at Durango, Colo.-based Mercy Regional Medical Center since July 1, a hospital spokesperson told Becker's Sept. 20.

The U.S. reported more than 675,000 COVID-19 deaths as of Sept. 20, surpassing the number of deaths seen during the 1918 flu pandemic, reports The Washington Post. 

The White House added measles to the list of diseases for which HHS and the CDC have the authority to issue federal quarantine orders, The Hill reports. 

The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses launched the Hear Us Out campaign Sept. 20 to illustrate nurses' front-line reality as they care for COVID-19 patients. 

Starting in early November, all international travelers entering the U.S. will need to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, NBC News reported Sept. 30. 

Three states — New Mexico, Idaho and Georgia — reported moderate flu activity for the week ending Sept. 11, according to the CDC's FluView report published Sept. 17.

More than 2,000 new COVID-19 deaths were reported in the U.S. Sept. 19, according to CDC data. 

Vermont has the highest percentage of its population fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to the CDC's COVID-19 vaccine distribution and administration data tracker.

New Mexico has administered the highest percentage of COVID-19 vaccines it has received, according to the CDC's COVID-19 vaccine distribution and administration data tracker.

New daily COVID-19 hospitalization rates in the U.S. have decreased 8 percent over the last two weeks, though 33 states are still seeing hospitalization rates trend upward, according to data tracked by The New York Times.

As of Sept. 20, more than 670,000 people in the U.S. had died after contracting COVID-19, according to The New York Times.

In a recent press release, Healthmark Industries introduced the Instrument Protectors to its ProSys™ Instrument Care product line. 

Children and teens gained weight faster during the COVID-19 pandemic, with the rate of body mass index increase nearly doubling amid the pandemic compared to a pre-pandemic period, according to the CDC's Sept. 17 Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. 

The CDC plans to spend $2.1 billion from the American Rescue Plan to boost the nation's infection control and prevention efforts, marking a record federal investment in this sector. 

After falling for the first time since late June, COVID-19 cases are again increasing in the U.S., according to the CDC's COVID Data Tracker Weekly Review published Sept. 17.

Kathryn Ivey, RN, a critical care nurse in Nashville, Tenn., detailed her experience as a new nurse starting amid the pandemic — with no baseline for what "normal nursing" looked like — in an op-ed published by Scientific American.

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, dozens of acute disseminated encephalomyelitis case reports have deemed the coronavirus as the trigger, NBC News reported Sept. 16.  

An off-duty nurse at Lansing, Mich.-based Sparrow Hospital helped deliver a baby in the elevator of the hospital's parking lot Sept. 13, reports the Lansing State Journal.

Sept. 17 is World Patient Safety Day — a campaign established by the World Health Organization in 2019 to raise awareness about adverse patient safety events. 

Here are the rates of positive COVID-19 tests in each state, along with the number of new cases most recently reported and number of tests conducted per 100,000 people.