COVID Hospitalizations Decline for Second Consecutive Week
October 4, 2023, 5:37 PM ET
After weeks of increasing COVID hospitalizations in the United States, there is finally some good news on the horizon. The number of patients being admitted to hospitals is showing a downward trend, and experts believe that the summer peak may be over.
According to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), weekly hospitalizations decreased by 3.1% from 19,691 to 19,079 for the week ending September 23. This figure is similar to the levels seen in March of this year and marks the second straight week of declines.
Earlier in the year, hospitalizations had increased from late July to early September, with the number of weekly patients even surpassing 20,000 last month. However, public health experts are optimistic that the worst may be behind us.
“It looks like the increase that we saw late summer is now subsiding,” says Dr. John Brownstein, an epidemiologist and chief innovation officer at Boston Children’s Hospital and an ABC News contributor. He adds, “That’s not so unexpected given that we’ve seen previous seasons where you get this smaller summer peak, possibly driven by people being indoors, kids coming back to school post-vacation.”
While some of the hospitalizations were due to people who were already in the hospital for unrelated reasons and incidentally tested positive for COVID-19, experts emphasize that hospitalization rates are still a crucial metric to gauge the severity of the virus’s impact on public health.
Deaths related to COVID-19 are still on the rise, although experts believe that they are a lagging indicator. They expect that just as hospitalizations have declined, the number of deaths will also decrease in the near future.
The end of the public health emergency in May prompted the CDC to stop sharing data on COVID-19 transmission levels and community spread. Instead, COVID-related hospital admissions became the primary metric used to measure the virus’s spread.
Dr. William Schaffner, a professor of preventive medicine and infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, explains, “The number of cases doesn’t tell us how severe the infection is or how easily it can be treated.” He adds, “Hospitalizations still represent our best bet right now.”
With the fall and winter seasons approaching, experts are urging people not to become complacent. These seasons have traditionally seen an increase in COVID cases, and it is important for everyone aged 6 months and older to receive the updated COVID vaccine.
In addition to the COVID vaccine, health officials are recommending that Americans also get vaccinated against the flu and receive the new respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine, especially those aged 60 and older.
“Making sure we get as many people protected will help alleviate any pressures we may feel on our healthcare systems heading into winter,” says Dr. Brownstein. He further emphasizes the importance of vaccinations, stating, “We’ve felt these pressures across all healthcare systems, especially in the pediatric population.”
It is crucial for everyone to stay vigilant and continue practicing safety measures to protect themselves and others from COVID-19.