Coronavirus hospitalizations in the U.S. are increasing with no sign of slowing.
The week ending Aug. 19 saw more than 15,000 new COVID-19 hospital admissions, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It’s nearly a 19% increase over the previous week and the sixth straight week of growing numbers.
The summer increase remains small compared to previous coronavirus waves in the U.S. Still, it is the first time since winter that the country has experienced growing COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations, and new coronavirus variants have caught the attention of officials.
EG.5, or “eris,” is now the dominant strain circulating in the U.S. It was responsible for more than 20% of new infections in recent weeks, according to CDC data.
The World Health Organization has designated EG.5 a “variant of interest” after it displayed a steady increase globally.
The organization assessed EG.5’s public health risk as “low at the global level,” which is the same designation as the so-called “arcturus” strain.
However, WHO warned that “due to its growth advantage and immune escape characteristics, EG.5 may cause a rise in case incidence and become dominant in some countries or even globally.”
Another new strain, BA.2.86, has been documented in the U.S. Details on the highly mutated strain are scarce, but researchers are watching it closely.
The CDC said in a risk assessment of BA.2.86 that it is likely not responsible for the current rise in COVID-19 hospitalizations and that it is too soon to know the new strain’s transmissibility or severity.
