New Covid-19 wave? Hospitalisations rise in US, CDC rings warning bells

Over 7,100 Covid-19 patients were admitted to hospitals in the week of July 15, up from 6,444 the previous week, shows CDC data

The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has warned that the number of Covid-19 hospitalisations has been rising this summer in the US.

According to CDC data, hospitalisations for people infected with the virus are up 10 per cent, the highest increase since December 2022.

More than 7,100 Covid-19 patients were admitted to hospitals in the week of July 15, up from 6,444 the previous week, the data said.

Covid-related emergency room visits are also on the rise, accounting for 0.73 per cent of visits as of July 21, up from 0.49 per cent the previous month.

"After roughly six, seven months of steady declines, things are starting to tick back up again," Dr Brendan Jackson, the CDC's Covid-19 incident manager in Atlanta, Georgia, told NPR.

"We've seen the early indicators go up for the past several weeks," he said, adding, "And just this week, for the first time in a long time, we've seen hospitalisations tick up as well."

"This could be the start of a late summer wave," he added.

CDC spokesperson Kathleen Conley said, "Early indicators of Covid-19 activity (emergency department visits, test positivity, and wastewater levels) preceded an increase in hospitalisations 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.