COVID-19 emergency department visits were down 1.5% for Aug. 10-16, compared to the week prior, but remain elevated compared to previous months, the CDC found.
For the week ending July 27, 2.2% of emergency department visits at U.S. hospitals involved patients who tested positive for COVID-19, marking a 12.1% jump from the previous week. For the week of Aug. 10-16, the rates stood at 2.4%.
Southeastern states are still showing the highest percentage of COVID-19 visits, with most ranging between 3% and 4.4%.
Here are four more COVID-19 updates:
1.The FDA is slated to sign off on two updated COVID-19 vaccines this month targeting the KP.2 strain, CNN reported Aug. 18. The mRNA vaccines are made by Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech. When the vaccines would be approved has not been announced, nor is it known if Novavax's updated shot, which targets JN.1 strain, would also be approved.
2. Springfield, Mass.-based Baystate Health facilities are reinstating masking mandates amid the rise of COVID-19 cases, Western Mass News reported Aug. 17.
3. The CDC now considers COVID-19 to be endemic, though not all health experts agree with this classification. Some epidemiologists argue COVID-19 is still too unpredictable to be labeled as endemic.
4. COVID-19 deaths fell 68.9% from 2022 to 2023 — dropping from the fourth-leading cause of death to the 10th, the CDC said.