d dan lieberman has the latest. >> reporter: houston, texas, a city with nearly 7 million people is downjust 46 icu beds. >> it's impacting all of us. it's actually beginning to threaten health care for people with other problems. >> reporter: nationwide more than 66,000 covid patients are getting care, with an average of 8,000 hospitalizations a day. up more than 300% from last month, the highest number since february. one church leader in jacksonville, florida hosting a vaccination event this weekend after six of his parishioners died from covid in the last couple days, all unvaccinated. >> we're praying. >> reporter: dr. anthony fauci saying he hopes the fda will fully approve covid-19 vaccines by the end of the month. >> if that's the case, you're going to see the empowerment of local enterprises giving mandates. the time has come as we've got to go the extra step to get people vaccinated. >> reporter: as the school year begins, there's growing concerns new virus hot spots will emerge. with dr. scott gottlieb predicting that illinois, indiana and north carolina could be next. >> case

dan lieberman, abc news, new york. >> our thanks to dan. >>> and new details on the possible origin of the coronavirus. an investigator for the world health organization says it's a likely hypothesis that a chinese scientist could have been infected with the virus while collecting bat samples. he's calling for a closer look at a second lab near the wuhan market where the first covid cluster emerged. >>> back in this country more security concerns along the southern border. border crossings last month hit a 21-year high. more than 200,000 migrants were taken into custody. the number of unaccompanied children hit an all-time high. and covid cases among migrants are also rising. the v. >>> the census bureau has released data showing the u.s. became more diverse over the past decade, driven by the increase in latinos. the white population dropped for the first time ever. >>> turning to the weather, a lightning strike in new york city has left a teerng fighting for his life. severe storms are blamed for causing more than a million power outages overnight. this morning a new round of summer

abc's dan lieberman has the latest. >> reporter: this morning, the spike in covid cases is overwhelming more hospitals in texas. the health care system in the houston area has closed three of its emergency rooms so that staff at those ers can be transferred to other hospitals filling up with covid patients. this woman found the doors locked when she tried to get help for her daughter's ear condition. >> it's a little disheartening. you see people coming, you need help. it's close to our home. >> reporter: the u.s. averaging 137,000 new covid cases per day. the surge fueled by the delta variant. infecting unvaccinated people but dr. anthony fauci says the country could get, quote, good control of the virus by spring of next year if vaccination rates improve. >> if we can get through this winter and get really the majority, overwhelming majority of the 90 million people who have not been vaccinated vaccinated, i hope we can start to get good control in the spring of 2022. if we keep lingering without getting those people vaccinated that should be vaccinated, this thing could linger on lea

abc's dan lieberman explains how the scammers are trying to steal your money. >> reporter: this morning the irs is explaining how not to fall for a series of scams taking advantage of families who qualify for the government's new child tax credit, which is up to $300 per child. the second payments are being sent out this friday. >> we're seeing scammers trying to take advantage of the american public by attempting to gain information. , a text mess apply for the tax credit. and an email asking you to click and claim your stimulus payment. they're all fake. the irs says it does not contact taxpayers via email, text messages or social media platforms to request personal or financial information for verification. one cybersecurity firm says it's already found nearly 50 websites pretending to be part of the government's america rescue plan, which includes the child tax credit. if you're researching online, only trust websites ending in .gov and never provide your social security number or driver's license. >> they'll be able to steal someone's refund check and also login to any sort of bank