US COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, deaths continue to climb

WASHINGTON - US COVID-19 new cases, hospitalizations, deaths continue to climb due to the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant, showed data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The current 7-day moving average of daily new cases (133,056) increased 14.0 percent compared with the previous 7-day moving average (116,740), according to the latest CDC weekly report.

As to the new hospital admissions, the current 7-day average for Aug 11-Aug 17 was 11,521, a 14.2 percent increase from the prior 7-day average (10,088) from Aug 4- Aug 10, said the report.

New admissions of patients with confirmed COVID-19 are currently at their highest levels since the start of the pandemic in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oregon, and Washington.

The current 7-day moving average of new deaths (641) has increased 10.8 percent compared with the previous 7-day moving average (578).

Nationally, the combined proportion of cases attributed to Delta is estimated to increase to 98.8 percent, said the report.

The US total COVID-19 infections are over 37.8 million with more than 629,000 deaths, according to a tally updated Monday afternoon by the Johns Hopkins University.

As of Sunday, 51.5 percent of the total US population were fully vaccinated, showed CDC data.