Florida's COVID surge 'a crisis of unprecedented proportions -- school districts battle for masks, other updates.

Florida's COVID surge 'a crisis of unprecedented proportions,' doctor says; school districts battle for masks. Latest COVID-19 updates Florida school districts are in the middle of a tug-of-war between state and federal authorities over mask mandates. The latest COVID updates. Jeanine Santucci and Christine Fernando USA TODAY

Florida became the third state in the U.S. to reach 3 million cases of COVID-19, a total surpassed by only 15 countries in the world.

Cases in the state fell very slightly this week, with 150,740 compared to 151,764 last week, but deaths were on the rise. The state saw 1,486 deaths this week compared to 1,071 the week before. Florida reported an all-time death record, with 1,486 deaths in the past week – nearly 15% above the previous record of 1,296 deaths in a week of January.

Northeast Florida is bearing the brunt of the state's COVID surge, with Baptist Health's five hospitals in the area seeing more than double the number of patients with COVID they saw at the previous peak of the pandemic last summer.

“Jacksonville is kind of the epicenter of this. They had one of the lowest vaccination rates going into July and that has probably really came back to bite them,” Justin Senior, CEO of the Florida Safety Net Hospital Alliance, told the Associated Press.

As hospitals are overrun with COVID cases, Orlando's mayor asked residents to conserve water and cut back on watering lawns and washing cars for at least a week. The city is facing a strain on potable water, and the liquid oxygen needed to treat the water is being prioritized for COVID patients in hospitals. ...

As hospitals are overrun with COVID cases, Orlando's mayor asked residents to conserve water and cut back on watering lawns and washing cars for at least a week. The city is facing a strain on potable water, and the liquid oxygen needed to treat the water is being prioritized for COVID patients in hospitals. ...

Meanwhile, Florida school districts are in the middle of a tug-of-war between state and federal authorities over mask mandates.

Florida's State Board of Education has warned Broward and Alachua counties — which have defied the state's anti-mask mandate order — to reverse course and allow mask exemptions within 48 hours or else risk pay cuts to administrators. ...

In other developments:

►Mexico has already reported more COVID-19 deaths in 2021 than it did in all of 2020, according to a USA TODAY analysis of Johns Hopkins University data.

►Montana is the only state to ban vaccine requirements for employees under a new law passed earlier this year that deemed such requirements as a condition for employment to be "discrimination."

►San Francisco became the first U.S. city to require full vaccination to participate in public indoor activities, including going to restaurants and gyms on Friday. The rule surpasses New York City, which only requires proof of partial vaccination.