U.S. COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths are now rising in 37 of 50 states, including several with above-average vaccination rates. Over 120,000 coronavirus cases are emerging each day as conditions continue to worsen.
The situation is especially dire in the chilly Great Lakes region and Northeastern states, with many doctors reporting a grimly repetitive cycle of admission, intensive care, and death, made even worse by shortages of beds and staff.
The number of Americans now hospitalized for COVID — nearly 65,000 — is higher than it’s been in two months. An average of 120,000 Americans are testing positive for COVID each day; while 1,300 are dying.
The current uptick in cases is being driven by the Delta variant. It is not yet known how the Omicron variant, which continues to emerge in more states, might affect those trends in the coming weeks and months.
“We’re in desperate shape,” said Brian Weis, chief medical officer at Northwest Texas Healthcare System in Amarillo, the state’s worst hot spot.
In the most recent CDC data, from September, unvaccinated people had about 14 times the risk of dying from Covid-19 after adjusting for age — a major factor in Covid outcomes.
As of Friday, 60 percent of Americans are fully vaccinated. Around 1.9 million doses are being administered each day, a figure that includes booster doses for vaccinated people, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
