The CDC’s numbers for the week ending Oct. 14 (CDC’s latest available) show that new hospitalizations for COVID-19 have dropped for the 5th week in a row. The peak of around 21,000 has now dropped to 16,158. The U.S. now averages about 4.9 COVID-19 hospitalizations per 100,000 people, with the highest levels showing up in Montana 9.6, Massachusetts 7.8, New York 7.5, and Hawaii 7.5.
Deaths from COVID-19, however, have risen yet again, up 4.2% over the previous week. Deaths typically lag behind hospitalizations by around three weeks or so, so the ongoing rise in deaths doesn’t present an immediate explanation.
Otherwise, the EG.5 variant of COVID-19, the leader in the U.S. for many weeks, has now given way to a mutation of EG.5 called HV.1. The latter was only about 0.5% of the variants out there in late July, but now, evidencing rapid growth, has surpassed EG.5. The current vaccine updates are vectored around the XBB variant; hence, it is thought to be appropriate for the variant of XBB.1.5, EG.5, and now the variant of EG.5, HV.1.
