US Faces COVID-19 Hospitalization Rise Again, Albeit Altered

In a small-scale repetition of the three previous summers, COVID-19 hospital admissions have slowly increased in the United States since early July.

Although the number of patients is significantly lower than before, the summer spike in new hospitalizations may be worrying given that an improved vaccine is still months away.

Hospital admissions for COVID-19 for the week ending July 29 totaled 9,056. That is an increase from the prior week of roughly 12%.

It’s still a far way from previous peaks, such as the 44,000 weekly hospital admissions in early January, the almost 45,000 in late July 2022, or the 150,000 admissions during the omicron spike in January 2022.Although the data is sparse, it is likely that infections are also on the rise. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as several states, no longer keep track of the amount of positive test results since federal authorities declared the public health emergency over in May.

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Low Concentrations of COVID-19 Detected in Wastewater

Since early June, between 500 and 600 people have passed away per week. Even while in the past rises in mortality have lagged behind increases in hospitalizations, the number of deaths this summer seems to be steady.

Since late June, the proportion of the COVID-19 virus in wastewater has been increasing across the country. As people return from their summer vacations and pupils return to school in the coming weeks, health officials say they’ll be closely monitoring wastewater levels.

According to Cristin Young, an epidemiologist at Biobot Analytics, the CDC’s wastewater surveillance contractor, higher quantities of COVID-19 are being identified in the Northeast and South.

Remember that the concentrations at this time are still quite low and that they are roughly 2.5 times lower than they were last summer.

And while one omicron EG.5 variant is more frequently seen, no one strain of the virus predominates. Though the nickname “eris” has been given to the variation, scientists aren’t actually utilizing it.

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Source: www.newsbreak.com