COVID-19 emergency room visits, deaths are up. Should you be worried?
More people ended up in emergency rooms and died in recent weeks from COVID-19, federal health data showed.
The information agencies collect, known as surveillance data, that tracks cases and the spread of COVID-19 has become limited. However, COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths are indicators of the disease’s spread. The numbers for emergency room admissions and deaths are up, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's latest data.
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COVID-19, with its endless list of mutating sub-variants, appears to have more predictable seasons, with large jumps in cases during winter months, and smaller increases in the summer. Experts previously told USA TODAY cases appear to be increasing this summer. However, Americans don't face nearly the same risk of serious illness or death due to COVID-19 compared to earlier in the pandemic, thanks in part to vaccines and prior infections that keep people protected.
That doesn’t mean people shouldn’t be concerned. In 2023, more than 75,000 people died from COVID-19. Nearly a million people wound up in U.S. hospitals last year.
There was a 23% increase in emergency department visits, according to CDC data posted on Monday. The data, taken from the week of June 22, the latest available, showed the weekly percentage of emergency room visits diagnosed as COVID-19 at 0.9%. It showed a substantial rise in people being diagnosed in Hawaii and, to a lesser extent, in Arizona, New Mexico, Florida and Washington. The percentage of COVID-19 diagnoses has ticked upwards since early May, CDC data showed.
There wasn't a marked change in COVID-19-related hospitalizations. But deaths jumped 14% in the past week. While that sounds alarming, it’s important to note it's a percentage increase compared to recent numbers. It doesn’t mean the total number of deaths is anywhere near as high as early in the pandemic.
CDC: Updated COVID vaccines and flu shots recommended for fall
Provisional data shows hundreds of deaths, compared with more than 2,000 deaths on average each week in late December and January. Before that, when the omicron variant dominated cases in 2021, weekly averages topped 20,000 deaths that winter.
Health officials said during a recent panel to approve updated COVID-19 vaccines this fall that older people remain at heightened risk of the worst COVID-19 outcomes. The CDC recommends everyone 6 months and older receive the updated COVID-19 vaccine once it is available later this year.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: COVID-19 rising with summer emergency room visits and deaths
