COVID-19 hospitalisations in US are on the rise again

Here we go again: COVID-19 hospital admissions have inched upward in the United States since early July in a small-scale echo of the three previous summers.

With an updated vaccine still months away, this summer bump in new hospitalisations might be concerning, but the number of patients is far lower than before.

A look at what we know:

For the week ending July 29, COVID-19 hospital admissions were at 9,056.

That's an increase of about 12% from the previous week.

But it's a far cry from past peaks, like the 44,000 weekly hospital admissions in early January, the nearly 45,000 in late July 2022, or the 150,000 admissions during the omicron surge of January 2022.

For the week ending July 29, COVID-19 hospital admissions were at 9,056.

That's an increase of about 12% from the previous week.

But it's a far cry from past peaks, like the 44,000 weekly hospital admissions in early January, the nearly 45,000 in late July 2022, or the 150,000 admissions during the omicron surge of January 2022.

Since early June, about 500 to 600 people have died each week.

The number of deaths appears to be stable this summer, although past increases in deaths have lagged behind hospitalisations.

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