U.S. virus surge reveals partisan divide, racism: experts

Frustration and concern are mounting across the United States as the country's new COVID-19 cases, fueled by the highly contagious Delta variant, topped 100,000 on Friday, hitting a six-month high since February.

The latest surge has raised new questions about the significant inadequacies in the U.S. disjointed, piecemeal response to the pandemic, which has been led by governors, mayors and local health departments with the federal government playing a supporting role.

What is worse, nearly 18 months into the pandemic, there's no consensus on masking, vaccination and other mitigation measures because of partisan divide and political polarization, experts have said.