COVID-19 hospitalizations rise again

While COVID-19 hospitalizations rose 18.8% for the week ending in Aug. 19, hospitalizations remain "low," according to CDC and are down 61% compared to the same time last year.

Meanwhile, COVID-19 deaths increased 17.6% between Aug. 20 and Aug. 26.

Of the three recently discovered coronavirus variants, CDC said the EG.5 variant is making up 21.5% of all cases while FL.1.5.1 is making up 14.5% and BA.2.86 is making up less than 1%.

According to S. Wesley Long, medical director of diagnostic microbiology at Houston Methodist, it's difficult to say how prevalent BA.2.86 may be because surveillance methods used to identify which variants are prominent have been ended in many areas.

"There's probably more out there than we realize," he said.

Long added that the increase in COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths could be a result of waning immunity among the general population as well as human behavior, like schools starting up and summer travel.

How to protect yourself

According to CDC Director Mandy Cohen, "We're in a much different and better place in August of 2023." "We have stronger immunity and tools to protect ourselves, we have vaccines, at-home tests, effective treatments and common-sense strategies like washing your hands and staying away from people when you're sick," she added.

However, in response to rising COVID-19 cases, several school districts and hospital systems have recommended or mandated masking.

Morris Brown College in Atlanta, for example, has implemented a temporary mask mandate on campus, while school districts in Kansas and Texas have both cancelled in-person learning in some areas.

Meanwhile, Kaiser Permanente Northern California has reinstated a mask mandate for staff in its Santa Rosa facilities and is encouraging visitors to also wear masks. United Health Services and Upstate Medical Hospitals in New York have also implemented mask mandates, as has UMass Memorial Health in Massachusetts.

"People who are older, who have underlying chronic medical conditions, who are immune compromised, and who are pregnant — we ought to get those masks out again, to protect ourselves," said William Schaffner, an infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Meanwhile, Moderna and Pfizer, as well as other drugmakers like Novavax, have created updated versions of their COVID-19 vaccines aimed at the XBB.1.5 variant. The updated boosters, which are expected to roll out this fall, have proven to be effective against new coronavirus variants that are now circulating, including EG.5.1 and FL.1.5.1. (Santucci, USA Today, 9/2; Taylor, Fortune, 9/4; Quijano, CBS News, 9/1; Treisman, NPR, 8/31)

As case counts increase across the country rise as a result of COVID-19, hospitals and health systems already strained by staffing shortages must be ready to confront the challenges at stake. Access the collection of our best resources and insights for creating capacity, supporting staff, communicating with patients, and more.