Topline
Despite the widespread availability of vaccines, the U.S. has now returned to the number of Covid-19 patients it had hospitalized in mid-March and early April as the spread of the more infectious delta variant continues to undo the country’s recent progress.
Key Facts
Some 44,663 coronavirus patients are currently occupying hospital inpatient beds (5.8% of the country’s total hospital bed space), and just under 10,000 are in intensive care units (12.5% of capacity), according to data from the Department of Health and Human Services.
Hospitalizations have increased by more than a third since last week, when just over 33,000 coronavirus patients were hospitalized, and have jumped by more than 10,000 in the past five days alone.
Though nowhere near the pandemic highs of nearly 140,000 recorded in January, the increase over the past week has brought hospitalizations to the levels seen at some points in the spring, and in early April 2020, when very little was known about the virus and there were no vaccines or treatments available.
Surprising Fact
The surge in hospitalizations is impacting nearly every state, according to a tracker run by The New York Times which shows hospitalizations increased in all but three states (Vermont, Delaware and Rhode Island) over the past two weeks.Those with the biggest increases during this period include Louisiana (hospitalizations are up 180%), Alabama (159%), South Carolina (128%), Florida (126%), Alaska (108%), Tennessee (106%) and Kentucky (103%). However, leading the country are Missouri, Arkansas, Florida, Mississippi and Nevada, where at last 27% of ICU beds are now taken up by Covid-19 patients.
Big Number
10. That’s how many states have more than one in five ICU beds taken up by coronavirus patients: Alabama (19.5%), Arkansas (32.7%), Florida (28.8%), Georgia (19.2%), Louisiana (22.3%), Mississippi (27.4%), Missouri (33.1%), Nevada (27%), Oklahoma (24.5%), Texas (24.4%) and Utah (24.3%).
Key Background
Aside from a slight uptick in mid-April, cases, hospitalizations and deaths linked to the coronavirus had been on the decline since early this year as vaccines became more widespread. This recent surge has been attributed to the delta variant, which experts believe to be more infectious than other virus strains and say now makes up more than 80% of U.S. cases. Vaccines appear to be effective at protecting against the variant, according to public health experts, but delta poses a significant threat to those who haven’t received the shot. Many states with vaccination rates lower than the national average of 49% are now among those with the highest hospitalization rates.
