The number of Americans hospitalized with COVID-19 is seeing its first downward tick after steadily increasing from April through July.
COVID-19 hospitalizations are down 1 percent nationwide over the last 14 days, with a daily average of 43,070 people hospitalized with COVID-19 as of Aug. 9, according to HHS data collected by The New York Times.
While hospitalizations are ticking downward nationally, the numbers are spotty at the state level. Hospitalizations are down in 25 states and Washington, D.C., flat in four states and up in 21 over the last 14 days. States in the West are seeing the greatest decreases over that timeframe, with hospitalizations down 40 percent in Nevada, 21 percent in Montana and Colorado, and 19 percent in New Mexico.
Known COVID-19 case counts have decreased since mid-July in more than half of all states. The virus is still infecting around 120,000 people each day, which is an undercount, since most at-home tests are not included in the data.
The CDC's latest estimates show the highly transmissible omicron subvariant BA.5 continues to gain dominance in the U.S., accounting for 87 percent of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the U.S.