COVID-19 hospitalizations are at an all-time high nationwide, with at least four states reporting new records this week. 

Washington Gov. Jay Inslee issued an emergency order Jan. 13 to temporarily restrict hospitals from performing nonurgent healthcare services, procedures and surgeries.

Holy Cross Health in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., will permanently close its labor and delivery unit March 14, CBS Miami reported Jan. 14. 

Louisville, Colo.-based Centura-Avista Adventist Hospital, which is temporarily closed after its evacuation during the Marshall fire on Dec. 30, said it will reopen Jan. 18.

Hospitals are urging the public to not use emergency departments for routine COVID-19 tests amid rising COVID-19 hospitalizations and crowded facilities. 

WVU Medicine Uniontown (Pa.) Hospital, in conjunction with WVU Medicine Children's, said it will restart obstetrics services later this year after ending the services two years ago. 

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam on Jan. 10 issued a limited 30-day emergency order to help hospitals facing an influx of patients during the latest COVID-19 surge.

Washington, D.C., is seeing the highest average rate of daily COVID-19 hospitalizations per 100,000 people in the nation, according to federal data cited by The New York Times.

University Hospitals Lake Health is temporarily closing its freestanding emergency department at UH Madison (Ohio) Health Center.

Connecticut is asking nursing homes to accept patients who are positive for COVID-19 and discharged from an acute care hospital, according to new guidance from the state department of public health. 

Citing staff shortages, Chester, Pa.-based Crozer Health is temporarily suspending emergency department, pathology, lab and medical imaging services at Springfield (Pa.) Hospital, starting Jan. 14.

Forty hospitals in New York state must stop certain elective procedures for at least two weeks after having met the state's threshold for "high risk regions" or low capacity facilities, according to a news release from the state health department.  

The Oregon Health Authority released new interim guidelines Jan. 6 for hospitals across the state to follow if a COVID-19 surge forces them to enact crisis standards of care. 

Hospitals and health systems across the U.S. are struggling with staffing challenges as workers call in sick and COVID-19 infections surge, and several facilities have had to temporarily limit capacity.

Minnesota Hospital Association leaders on Jan. 7 urged the public to not seek COVID-19 testing at emergency departments or urgent care centers.

COVID-19 hospitalization rates among children younger than 4 are at their highest yet, according to the CDC. 

Later this month, hospitals in Massachusetts will begin adjusting their reporting on COVID-19 hospitalizations to distinguish between how many patients are admitted for the virus as their primary condition and how many are primarily admitted for other ailments and incidentally test positive, according to The Boston Globe.

St. Louis-based BJC HealthCare postponed nonurgent procedures Jan. 6 because of a high increase of COVID-19 cases, reporting more than 500 people hospitalized for the virus as of Jan. 4, KSDK reported.

As the U.S. shattered global case records Jan. 3, reporting more than 1 million new daily COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations are also rising across the nation, with 13 states reporting new admission records this week. 

Oregon State Hospital in Salem has paused admissions to protect patients as it deals with a COVID-19 outbreak.