Weekly COVID-19-like hospitalizations have increased by more than 10% nationwide, according to new data released through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, marking the highest cumulative percentage in this key indicator of the virus since December.
At least 7109 admissions of patients diagnosed with COVID-19 reported for the week of July 15 nationwide, the CDC announced Monday night, up from 6444 the previous week.
Another hospital measure has also seen an upward trend in recent weeks: an average of 0. 73% of emergency room visits last week had COVID-19 as of July 21, up from 0. 49% on June 21.
The new numbers come after months of slowing national COVID-19 trends since the last wave of infections over the winter.
“COVID-19 rates in the U. S. U. S. stocks are still near all-time lows after 7 months of steady declines. Early signs of COVID-19 activity — emergency room visits, positivity of checks and sewage levels — preceded an increase in hospitalizations noted last week,” said Kathleen, a CDC spokeswoman. Conley said in a statement.
Conley said all counties are at “low” levels of COVID-19 hospital admissions, below thresholds at which the CDC recommends more precautions to curb the virus.
Only one component of the country saw no more hospitalizations last week than the week before: the Midwest region covering Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin.
For now, hospitalizations remain well below the degrees recorded at this time last year nationwide. July 2022 peaked with more than 44,000 weekly hospitalizations and 5% of emergency room visits with COVID-19, a summer surge that affected many hospitals.
“U. S. “The U. S. has noticed increases in COVID-19 over the past three summers, so it’s not unexpected to see a slight increase,” Conley said.
Projections have differed on what the coming months will bring.
A set of educational and federal modelers said last month that “the primary era of COVID19 activity is expected to occur in late fall and early winter for the next 2 years, with an average occurrence peak between November and mid-January. “
They noted that there were abundant differences between the models within the group, with some groups predicting a smaller peak in the year.
In the US, 2021 saw larger peaks in August and December, driven by the Delta and Omicron variants, respectively.
Unlike previous waves, a single variant has yet to emerge to dominate infections across the country.
Instead, existing CDC projections estimate that a combination of descendants of the XBB variant that was first infected last winter is now competing across the country.
The vital maximum of these XBB subvariants are infections grouped in XBB. 1. 16, XBB. 1. 9. 1, XBB. 2. 3, XBB. 1. 6 or EG. 5, of which they represent between 10% and 15% of infections nationwide.
Experts had in the past pointed to EG. 5 as one of the fastest developing lines in the world. EG. 5 is a descendant of the XBB. 1. 9. 2 variant, with an additional mutation that could help it outperform other strains.
“At this time, CDC genomic surveillance indicates that the accumulation of infections is due to strains very similar to Omicron strains that have been circulating since early 2022,” Conley said.
This comes as the fitness government rushes to prepare for a new COVID-19 vaccine circular this fall.
The updated vaccines are expected to be available until the end of September, the CDC said earlier this month, after the FDA asked drugmakers to begin generating new formulations targeting those types of XBB strains.
Government distribution of existing vaccines is expected to end next week before the update, which will also mark the shift to a classic vaccine advertising market.
However, the CDC says existing vaccine stocks will still be shipped in September for “exceptional” situations.
“While many other people may wait to get a COVID-19 vaccine until the release of the updated version, as it offers more physically powerful coverage compared to recently circulating variants, some other people may want or prefer a COVID-19 vaccine before the scheduled rollout of the updated vaccine in the fall,” the firm said.