More than 12,600 new COVID-19 hospital admissions were reported for the week ending Aug. 12, up nearly 22 percent from the week prior.
The uptick comes as experts keep close watch on a new distant omicron relative, BA.2.86. Few sequences have been detected globally so far, including at least three in the U.S. While it's too early to make firm assessments on the strain, health agencies are closely monitoring it given the large number of mutations it carries on the spike protein.
"This is a radical change of the virus like what happened with omicron, which caught a lot of people defenseless," Eric Topol, MD, director of the Scripps Research Translational Institute in San Diego, told The Washington Post. "Even if they had a vaccine or prior infection, it could still get into them and infect them again or for the first time. We are facing that again."
The CDC published a risk assessment on the variant Aug. 23, saying current evidence suggests existing tests and medications used to detect and treat COVID-19 should still be effective; that it may be better at infecting those with prior immunity; and that there is no evidence it causes more severe disease.
"That assessment may change as additional scientific data are developed. CDC will share more as we know more," the agency said. The current U.S. uptick is primarily driven by several XBB offshoots, including EG.5 and FL.1.5.1.
Ten places with the highest rate of new COVID-19 hospitalizations per 100,000 residents for the week ending Aug. 12:
Hawaii: 9.2
Number of new admissions: 130
Florida: 8.7
New admissions: 1,871
District of Collumbia: 5.5
New admissions: 39
Louisiana: 5.2
New admissions: 252
California: 4.9
New admissions: 1,930
New York: 4.9
New admissions: 943
Massachusetts: 4.7
New admissions: 327
South Carolina: 4.7
New admissions: 240
Connecticut: 4.5
New admissions: 161
Alaska: 4.5
New admissions: 33
Ten states where COVID-19 admissions increased most in the past week
Vermont — 108.3 percent
Number of new admissions: 25
Kentucky — 88.4 percent
New admissions: 162
Alaska — 73.7 percent
New admissions: 33
South Carolina — 60 percent
New admissions: 240
Michigan — 58.3 percent
New admissions: 201
New Mexico — 52 percent
New admissions: 38
Massachusetts — 51.4 percent
New admissions: 327
Missouri — 42.3 percent
New admissions: 175
Virginia — 42.2 percent
New admissions: 236
Nevada — 40.3 percent
New admissions: 101
One thing to note: Rhode Island — which was among the 10 states where new admissions increased most for the previous week — saw a decrease for the week ending Aug. 12.