WASHINGTON, July 31 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The number of COVID-19 hospitalizations is rising this summer in the US, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Hospitalizations of people with the virus are up 10%, per CDC data — the sharpest increase since December 2022.
More than 7,100 patients with COVID were hospitalized in the week of July 15, up from 6,444 the prior week.
COVID-related emergency room visits are also on the rise, comprising 0.73% of visits as of July 21, compared to 0.49% a month prior.
“After roughly six, seven months of steady declines, things are starting to tick back up again,” Dr. Brendan Jackson, the CDC’s COVID-19 incident manager in Atlanta, Georgia, told NPR this week.
“We’ve seen the early indicators go up for the past several weeks,” he continued.
“And just this week, for the first time in a long time, we’ve seen hospitalizations tick up as well.”
He added, “This could be the start of a late summer wave.”
The spikes have been most prominent in the Southeast, Jackson said.
“Early indicators of COVID-19 activity (emergency department visits, test positivity and wastewater levels) preceded an increase in hospitalizations seen this past week,” CDC spokesperson Kathleen Conley said in a statement.
Despite the uptick, she confirmed that COVID rates are still at “near-historic lows” in the U.S.
Despite the uptick in hospitalizations, a CDC spokesperson confirmed that COVID rates are still at “near-historic lows” in the U.S. (iStock)
Overall, COVID deaths continue to decline.
They’re now at the lowest rate since the CDC started keeping track, according to Jackson.
The surge in summer cases doesn’t mean the CDC plans to recommend a return to masking, he said. — NNN-AGENCIES
