Amid ongoing concerns of new COVID-19 cases rising and the possible return of widespread mask mandates, a map shows where COVID-19 hospitalizations are rising the most.
Over the past few months, health officials have warned of a possible increase in COVID-19 cases following the discovery of a new variant, BA.2.86, as well as the relaxation of precautions such as mask mandates and vaccine requirements.
"While hospitalizations are increasing, the current levels are still far lower than what was seen in 2022 during the summer peak, when there was an average of 1,287 COVID patients hospitalized each day," officials with the Los Angeles County Department of Health said last month.
Dr. Luis Ostrosky, the chief of infectious diseases for UT Health and Memorial Hermann in Houston, Texas, said last month that "COVID is definitely out in the community.
"In the hospitals, we're starting to see more people coming to the ER with COVID, more people coming to our outpatient clinics with COVID," he added, KRIV News reported.
An empty bed where a patient with COVID-19 died earlier in the day waits to be filled with a new patient in the ICU at Hartford Hospital in Hartford, Connecticut, on January 18, 2022. On...An empty bed where a patient with COVID-19 died earlier in the day waits to be filled with a new patient in the ICU at Hartford Hospital in Hartford, Connecticut, on January 18, 2022. On September 19, 2023, an updated map from the CDC shows where COVID-19 hospitalizations are rising the most.JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP/Getty ImagesThe U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) publishes a COVID-19 hospitalization tracking map on a weekly basis, with the most recent map showcasing data for the week ending September 9.
A spokesperson for the CDC told Newsweek on Tuesday that "overall, COVID-19 hospital admissions remain low, with 20,538 new COVID-19 hospital admissions nationally for the week of September 3 through September 9, 2023, compared to 19,068 hospital admissions the previous week. This represents a 7.71 percent increase in new COVID-19 hospital admissions from the previous week."
The map shows COVID-19 hospitalizations by county and uses colors to signify which counties have seen a high increase (orange), a medium increase (yellow) and a low increase (green). The map puts counties in orange if they have 20 or more new weekly COVID-19 hospitalizations per 100,000 residents, while yellow is used when there is 10.0 to 19.9 new weekly COVID-19 hospitalizations per 100,000 residents.
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According to the map, the Texas counties of Brewster, Presidio, Jeff Davis, Dewitt, Victoria, Lavaca, Jackson and Calhoun are labeled in orange. In Mississippi, Alcorn and Tishomingo counties are orange, as well as the Virginia counties of Prince George, Dinwiddie, Surry and Sussex.
Other counties labeled orange include Linn County, Missouri; Clay County and Barber County, Kansas; Grant County in Oregon; and Beaverhead County in Montana.
Additionally, the map shows several counties in Florida, Arkansas, New York, Alabama and Montana in yellow.
"For comparison, nationally, new hospital admissions during the week of September 4 through September 10, 2022, were over 31,000. The U.S. has experienced increases in COVID-19 during the last three summers, so it's not surprising to see an uptick," the CDC spokesperson said.
Despite a slight rise in new COVID-19 hospitalizations in some counties, several Republican-led states have already vowed not to bring back mask requirements.
