The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported last week that the number of hospitalizations related to COVID-19 rose to more than 35,800, the ninth consecutive week of increases.
In addition to New York City and the District of Columbia, 35 states continue to see high levels of respiratory virus activity, with people showing up to health care facilities with coughs and fevers.
The week-over-week spike has largely leveled off after the winter holidays, when people typically participate in social gatherings and travel at the same time coronavirus infections rise. However, hospitalizations in the United States are at levels not seen since last winter.
“After weeks of continued increases, the rate has increased even though test positivity rates (the percentage of tests performed that are positive), emergency department visits, and hospitalization rates remain high nationally. are stable and, in some cases, decreasing,” the CDC said in an update. Friday.
Levels of coronavirus infections in the U.S. are “very high,” according to wastewater monitoring data.
More than 1,600 Americans are dying each week from the coronavirus, according to preliminary statistics from the CDC.
JN.1 is the micron subvariant that is the predominant strain circulating in the United States and is the primary cause of the current coronavirus outbreak in the United States. Although this variant is the fastest-spreading variant in the country, there is “no evidence that JN.1 poses a greater risk to public health than other currently circulating variants,” according to the CDC.
JN.1 What are the new coronavirus variants and how dangerous are they?
The Omicron subvariant now accounts for 44% of coronavirus cases in the United States. According to data from the CDC last month, the infection rate doubled in just two weeks.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has classified JN.1 as a “variant of interest.” Hospitalizations are occurring across the country, and in some cases there have been deaths.
According to the report, recent evidence suggests that this strain does not pose as great a threat to public health as other circulating variants.
This variant has more than 30 mutations in the spike protein compared to XBB.1.5, the variant that dominated much of this year. However, coronavirus vaccines are thought to offer increased protection against JN.1, just as they do against other variants.
Across all variants, the symptoms of the new coronavirus are largely similar. These include fever or chills, cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, fatigue, muscle or body aches, headache, new loss of taste or smell, sore throat, stuffy or runny nose, nausea or vomiting, and diarrhea. It will be.