The U.S. recorded 1,082,549 new daily COVID-19 cases on Jan. 3, an all-time high, according to data from Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.
During the latest surge driven by the omicron and delta variants, however, health officials have urged a shift to focus on hospitalizations as the key metric to gauge virus transmission and to steer public health guidance rather than case counts. That's because the virus is spreading in a different landscape than earlier surges, with wider vaccination coverage and testing.
Still, health officials have warned against complacency toward omicron — which a growing body of evidence suggests causes milder illness than earlier variants — as hospitals may still become overwhelmed in some areas. Nationwide, hospitalizations have increased at a much slower rate than cases, with the daily average sitting at nearly 98,000 on Jan. 3 — a 41 percent increase over the last 14 days — according to data from The New York Times. For comparison, the daily average for new cases was more than 486,000 on Jan. 3, a 239 percent jump over the same length of time.
Here are five states reporting record COVID-19 hospitalizations:
1. NBC New York reported the state sits at 9,563 hospitalizations with a 790 patient increase since Jan. 2. Gov. Kathy Hochul is asking hospitals to adjust COVID-19 hospitalization reporting to distinguish patients admitted for the virus being their primary condition versus those who test positive during a hospitalization for other reasons.
2. Illinois reported 6,294 hospitalizations Jan. 2, surpassing the previous record of 6,175 set Nov. 20, 2020, according to the Chicago Sun Times.
3. Ohio reported 5,356 COVID-19 hospitalizations Dec. 29, 2021, surpassing the previous hospitalization record of 5,308 on Dec. 15, 2020.
4. Maryland state data last updated Jan. 3 showed 2,746 patients are hospitalized for COVID-19, which CBS Baltimore reported is the highest the state has seen in the pandemic thus far.
5. State data shows Delaware reported 481 hospitalizations on Dec. 31, 2021, surpassing the previous Jan. 12, 2021, record of 474. Gov. John Carney declared a public health state of emergency Jan. 3.