(The Hill) — Total COVID-19 hospital admissions increased by 12.1% in the past week, according to recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), marking the highest rise in admissions since last winter.
This week’s hospital admission rate follows last week’s rise of over 10%. While this data suggests more infections, a metric that the CDC no longer tracks, it remains unclear how concerned people should be.
Although hospital admissions have risen by over 10% in each of the past two weeks, the number of currently hospitalized patients has risen to a lesser degree. Compared to last week, the number of patients hospitalized for COVID this week increased by 7% to 6,121. Deaths due to COVID-19 have also remained unchanged in recent weeks despite the rise in hospital admissions.
The most recent wastewater surveillance data from July revealed that the majority of sites in the U.S. are experiencing lower levels of the COVID-19 virus. Only 7% of sites are reporting levels between 60 and 100%, encompassing the two highest categories of viral wastewater detection. The number of sites reporting data has been declining since June, but the majority still provide information.
It has been nearly three months since the expiration of the public health emergency for COVID-19, and life has mostly returned to pre-pandemic routines for the majority of people. After three years of living with SARS-CoV-2, a small surge in cases during the summer may become a new normal to adapt to.
“We have had a summer wave of COVID for the last few summers, so it’s not surprising to see an increase in COVID right now,” said Jill Rosenthal, director of public health policy at the Center for American Progress, to The Hill.
A smaller summer wave of COVID cases has been observed each year since the beginning of the outbreak. Coronavirus cases started to rise in mid-June of 2020 after plateauing for a few weeks. A larger surge began in July of 2021, and cases remained elevated throughout May and August of last year.
Many people rightly associate increases in respiratory viral infections with colder weather, when individuals spend more time indoors and transmission occurs more easily in confined spaces with limited airflow. However, warmer weather brings its own factors that encourage behaviors leading to more infections.
Just as colder weather drives people indoors, warmer weather entices people to go outside, let their guards down, and gather together. This desire to be outdoors is even stronger now that the public health emergency has ended.
The summer season also sees higher rates of travel, which may contribute to the faster spread of viruses like COVID. A survey from Forbes found that half of consumers stated their intention to travel more in 2023, with 45% budgeting to spend more on travel this year.
Additionally, while people may be spending more time outdoors, extreme heat drives vulnerable populations, such as homeless individuals, to public indoor cooling centers where overcrowding and the spread of infections could be more severe.
Discussing the link between heatwaves and COVID, Rosenthal emphasized that “there’s an indirect connection between the two.”
She noted that some people also believe in the misconception that ambient heat and sunlight can eliminate the coronavirus, leading to less caution in public. While UVC rays have been found to help reduce airborne microbes, the American Academy of Dermatology has previously clarified that the atmosphere blocks those rays from reaching the Earth’s surface.
Simultaneously, as hospital admissions continue to rise, officials are working on efforts to prevent a major surge later in the year.
Federal health authorities are currently preparing for a fall vaccine campaign, resembling a normal flu shot campaign. Both Moderna and Pfizer have submitted applications for FDA authorization of their respective shots updated to protect against the XBB.1.5 omicron subvariant.