News: COVID hospitalizations climb for fifth week in a row, data shows

After reaching an all-time low of about 6,300 hospitalizations per week in July, new hospitalizations for COVID-19 have increased each week since, according to updated CDC figures. Nationwide, 12,613 people were hospitalized during the week ending August 12, up from 10,320 the week prior. The CDC now relies on hospitalization data to track impact of COVID-19, Medscape Medical News reported.

The current predominant strain is still EG.5, which experts believe is not more severe or more contagious than other recent variants. The CDC updates its variant estimates every Friday, so future data may shed more light on whether this will become a concerning trend.

Despite the overall low levels of current COVID metrics, the rising number is somewhat of a concern given that a surge occurred in the summer of 2021 with the dangerous Delta variant.

“But each new variant so far that has come through has subsequently had less of a population impact,” John Brownstein, PhD, a Harvard Medical School professor of biomedical informatics, told ABC News. "Now, is it possible we may see one in the future that is worthy, a real concern? Absolutely. But overall, we've seen a dampening of effect over the last several variants that have come through."

Editor’s note: To read Medscape Medical News’ coverage of this story, click here. To access the CDC’s COVID data tracker, click here.