More than 10,000 people in the U.S. were hospitalized with COVID-19 for the week ending Aug. 5, up 14.3 percent from the previous week and marking the fourth straight week of increase.
Overall, levels remain far below this time last year, when the weekly average for new COVID-19 admissions was above 40,000, according to CDC data. The current bump in hospitalizations comes as XBB-offshoot EG.5 gains traction in the U.S., making up more than 17 percent of cases, though there is no evidence the strain causes more severe infection.
Bruce Farber, MD, an infectious disease physician at New Hyde Park, N.Y.-based Northwell Health, recently told NPR the system has seen an increase in positivity rates among patients arriving at the ER and admitted to hospitals — "about double compared to a month ago," he said.
"Most of those people in the hospital with COVID are in for other reasons and not in because of COVID — not all of them," Dr. Farber said. "And very, very few are critically ill with COVID and very few are dying with COVID."
No matter the primary reason for hospitalizations, healthcare leaders are keeping their eyes on moving trends as fall approaches. Most experts agree the COVID-19 bump won't materialize into a significant surge comparable to past years, but there is concern as to what respiratory viruses will bring this fall and winter and how it may strain resources.
Ten states with the highest rate of new COVID-19 hospitalizations per 100,000 residents for the week ending Aug. 5:
Hawaii: 9.5
Number of new admissions: 134
Florida: 7.8
Number of new admissions: 1,672
Alabama: 4.7
Number of new admissions: 228
Louisiana: 4.3
Number of new admissions: 198
District of Columbia: 4.1
Number of new admissions: 29
California: 4
Number of new admissions: 1,582
Georgia: 3.8
Number of new admissions: 399
Texas: 3.4
Number of new admissions: 993
New Hampshire: 3.4
Number of new admissions: 46
Mississippi: 3.4
Number of new admissions: 100
Ten place where COVID-19 admissions increased most in the past week
District of Columbia — New admissions up 93.3 percent for the week ending Aug. 5
Number of new admissions: 29
Rhode Island — 90.9 percent
New admissions: 21
West Virginia — 67.7 percent
New admissions: 52
Vermont — 50 percent
New admissions: 18
Delaware — 50 percent
New admissions: 24
Idaho — 48 percent
New admissions: 37
Oregon — 47 percent
New admissions: 122
Wisconsin — 44.4 percent
New admissions: 91
Arkansas — 40.3 percent
New admissions: 87
South Carolina — 40.2 percent
New admissions: 150
One thing to note: New Hampshire, South Dakota and Maine — which were among the 10 states where new COVID-19 admissions increased most for the previous week — all saw a decrease for the week ending Aug. 5. Maryland saw no change.
Read about more COVID-19 updates here.