Coronavirus hospitalizations have been increasing for more than a month and are expected to continue to rise given holiday travel and gatherings.
COVID-19 hospitalizations are on the rise heading into the end-of-year holidays.
New hospital admissions increased 3% last week to reach more 23,400 admissions for the week ending Dec. 9, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Hospitalizations have been increasing for more than a month and are expected to continue to rise given holiday travel and gatherings.
The CDC on Friday said in a report that the “amount of respiratory illness (fever plus cough or sore throat) causing people to seek healthcare is elevated or increasing across most areas of the country.”
A new COVID-19 variant known as JN.1 is responsible for about 1 in 5 new coronavirus cases, according to CDC estimates. It’s the fastest growing variant in the U.S. The agency said in an update that it is unclear to what extent the variant is contributing to the increases in COVID-19 metrics.
While tests, treatments and vaccines are expected to work on JN.1, its continued growth in the U.S. “suggests that it is either more transmissible or better at evading our immune systems,” according to the CDC.
However, JN.1 doesn’t appear to cause more severe disease, and the agency assesses that the strain does not present an increased public health risk relative to other circulating variants.
COVID-19 is causing the most cases, hospitalizations and deaths of any respiratory virus circulating, according to the CDC.
“So while we all wish we could leave COVID in the rearview mirror, it is still here with us,” CDC Director Mandy Cohen said at an event this week. “And so we need to make sure that we are continuing to take it very seriously.”
Cohen encouraged Americans to get vaccinated, acknowledging that uptake for the COVID-19 vaccine as well as flu and RSV shots are low.
