Nearly one month out from the end of the public health emergency in the U.S., hospitalizations are on the rise in 16 different states, and a new omicron subvariant has been spotted in 18 states.
Wyoming, Hawaii, Iowa, Vermont, South Dakota, Utah, Colorado, West Virginia, Minnesota, Nebraska, Washington, New Hampshire, Alaska, Indiana, New Mexico and California have all seen increases in hospitalizations due to COVID-19 over the last 14 days, according to CDC data tracked by The New York Times.
The Times' data shows, "the number of daily hospital admissions" or "how many patients tested positive for COVID in hospitals."
The new subvariant, XBB. 1.16 — which health experts have said is more infectious than some previous versions — has been spotted in seven of the states that are seeing hospitalization spikes.
The recent rise in hospitalizations "is a reminder of the ongoing circulation of COVID-19 in our community," Sarah Kemble, MD, epidemiologist at the Hawaii Department of Health, said in an April 5 press release noting the recent increases.
However, at this time nationwide both overall cases and deaths appear to be down. The new omicron subvariant's spread is continuing to be monitored by the World Health Organization. It is not yet part of the CDC's variant proportion tracker, but cases are regularly being tracked in a public database created by Raj Rajnarayanan, PhD, an assistant dean of research and associate professor at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro.