COVID Map Shows US States With Increased Hospitalizations

Eleven U.S. states have had a substantial increase in coronavirus hospitalizations in the latest recorded week, compared with the previous seven days, new maps from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show.

There were 18,119 new COVID-19 admissions across the U.S. in the week ending November 18—an overall rise of 9.7 percent over the previous seven days. These increases were higher in the upper Midwest and Great Lakes regions, as well as parts of New England. At the same time, the prevalence of positive tests has risen in the northern Midwest.

The uptick in hospitalizations is something health officials have expected as we enter the winter months.

Colder weather tends to lead to an increased spread of viruses and other infections because immunity is lower. One 2020 study suggested the COVID virus could remain active for longer in cold, dry conditions.

A CDC spokesperson previously told Newsweek that October usually marks the "typical start of the respiratory virus season" and that hospitalization rates "could increase" over the coming months.

Hospitalizations with COVID-19 had risen steadily since late June before peaking at the start of September. They then fell slightly before remaining largely stable through October, hovering around 15,000 nationwide, before beginning to rise slightly through November. The levels remain well below the highest recorded peak: over 150,600 patients in the week ending January 15, 2021.

The latest figures, released Sunday, show North Dakota with the greatest rise in hospitalizations, up by 68.2 percent over the previous week.

Connecticut, Massachusetts and Minnesota saw week-on-week increases above 30 percent, while in Indiana, Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, Rhode Island, Ohio and Wyoming hospital admissions for the virus were up by more than 30 percent.

California, Colorado, Hawaii, Louisiana, Michigan, Maine, Maryland, New Jersey, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Utah, Wisconsin, West Virginia and the U.S. territory of Puerto Rico all saw increases of over 10 percent over the prior week.

In other states, the number of hospitalizations was either stable or saw a moderate decrease of less than 10 percent. Alaska and Washington, D.C., were the only two regions to see decreases greater than 20 percent, compared with the week ending November 11.

While the magnitude of the rises in some states might be startling, they represent a relatively low number of hospital admissions. In North Dakota, there were just 74 hospitalizations in a week, out of a total of 15,522 since August 2020.

Nationwide, there has been a 0.1 percent rise in the number of COVID-19 patients occupying intensive-care unit beds, representing the worst cases, which usually require ventilation. Deaths from the virus rose week to week by 8.3 percent.

Localized rises through the summer prompted some private institutions, hospital operators and colleges in the U.S. to reintroduce the requirements for staff or visitors to wear masks while at their sites. Many of the institutions have since relaxed their mask mandates, although some hospitals in New Jersey later brought them back in response to infection rates.