Late summer wave? Covid hospitalisations spike in US, health agency warns
Covid In US: Over 7,100 patients with Covid were hospitalised in the week of July 15, up from 6,444 the prior week, data showed.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) warned that the number of Covid-19 hospitalisations have been rising in the US. As per data, hospitalisations have spiked up 10%- the sharpest increase since December 2022. Over 7,100 patients with Covid were hospitalised in the week of July 15, up from 6,444 the prior week, it showed while Covid-related emergency room visits are also on the rise. About 0.73% of visits as of July 21 are due to Covid compared to 0.49% a month prior.
"After roughly six, seven months of steady declines, things are starting to tick back up again," Dr. Brendan Jackson, the CDC's Covid incident manager in Atlanta told NPR.
“We've seen the early indicators go up for the past several weeks. And just this week, for the first time in a long time, we've seen hospitalizations tick up as well,” he said.
“This could be the start of a late summer wave," he continued highlighting that the spikes have been significant in the Southeast.
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More concerning are the "mutagenic" subvariants emerging in Asia but for most people in the US "these early signs don't need to mean much," he said.
CDC spokesperson Kathleen Conley said, “Early indicators of Covid-19 activity (emergency department visits, test positivity and wastewater levels) preceded an increase in hospitalizations seen this past week.”
But, Covid rates are still at "near-historic lows" in the US, she said, adding that overall infection-related deaths are declining in the country and are at the lowest rate since the CDC started keeping track.
Dr. Marc Siegel, professor of medicine at NYU Langone Medical Center told Fox News that a summer surge is underway.
"I am likely going to recommend the new XBB subvariant booster in the fall, especially for those in high-risk groups who haven't had a recent infection or vaccine. Ordinarily, I would pay careful attention to wastewater analysis, but given the amount of immunity still around from prior infection and vaccination — coupled with the fact that we are still within the Omicron family with most infections remaining mild and hospitalizations showing only a slight uptick — I don't see this as a harbinger of another surge," Dr. Marc Siegel said.
“These are just embers of a fire not completely out. I am likely going to recommend the new XBB subvariant booster in the fall, especially for those in high-risk groups who haven't had a recent infection or vaccine," he explained.
