COVID-19 deaths, hospitalizations rise in December

Compared to November, there was a 42% increase in COVID-19 hospitalizations and a 62% increase in ICU admissions in December, according to WHO.

"Although COVID-19 is no longer a global health emergency, the virus is still circulating, still changing, and still killing," said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director-general.

Tedros added that he was "certain" cases are on the rise in places that haven't been reporting, and called on governments to keep up with surveillance and continue providing access to treatments and vaccines.

Maria Van Kerkhove, technical lead at WHO for COVID-19, noted there has been an increase in respiratory diseases around the world not only due to COVID-19 but also the flu, rhinovirus, and pneumonia.

"We expect those trends to continue into January through the winter months in the northern hemisphere," she said, adding that there have been increases in COVID-19 cases in the southern hemisphere where it is currently summer.

Where COVID-19 stands in the US

Meanwhile, the United States saw a 20% increase in COVID-19 hospitalizations for the week ending in Dec. 30, with nearly 35,000 people hospitalized. And for the week ending in Dec. 9, the most recent week of complete data, there were 1,614 COVID-19 deaths, with the last four weeks of complete data showing an average of 1,488 weekly deaths.

The current "weekly rate of COVID mortality is similar to what we were getting per day at [the worst] parts of the pandemic. So, proportionally, we're in a completely different place than where we were, thankfully," said Cameron Wolfe, a professor of infectious diseases at Duke University. "But there's still a pretty significant mortality; 1,500 patients dying every week is unacceptable, frankly."

CDC data shows very few people have received new vaccines against COVID-19. As of Jan. 5, just 19.4% of all adults ages 18 and older and 8% of children have received the most recent COVID-19 vaccine. In addition, just 38% of adults ages 65 and older have been vaccinated.

"We do have very good vaccines that [researchers] have been able to adjust as the variants have changed and very good treatment options that have been shown to decrease the risk of hospitalization as well as deaths," said Shivanjali Shankaran, an associate professor of infectious diseases at Rush University Medical Center, adding that if "we're not accessing those particular tools, then having them doesn't sort of make any difference."

"The longer someone has gone since their last vaccine, or their most recent infection for that matter, the more likely their COVID breakthrough would occur and the more likely it's going to be severe enough that they land in hospital" and potentially die, Wolfe noted.

According to CDC, the majority of COVID-19 cases involve the JN.1 COVID-19 variant, which now accounts for an estimated 62% of cases, up from around 21% a month ago.

New research from the Ohio State University (OSU) has also found that JN.1, as well as BA.2.86, may be linked to an increase in disease severity. The study looked at mutations in the spike protein of BA.2.86 and found it has the ability to infect human cells lining the lower lung, which is linked to more severe symptoms.

However, the researchers noted more research is needed to confirm their findings, as the study used pseudoviruses.

"But from our past experience, we know that infectivity in human epithelial cell lines provides very important information," said Shan-Lu Liu, senior author on the study and a virology professor at OSU. "The concern is whether or not this variant [BA.2.86], as well as its descendants including JN.1, will have an increased tendency to infect human lung epithelial cells similar to the parental virus that launched the pandemic in 2020." (Carbajal, Becker's Clinical Leadership, 1/11; Associated Press, 1/10; Kekatos, ABC News, 1/10)

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