US sees daily average of 1L Covid hospitalisations

The daily average for hospitalised Covid-19 patients in the US is now more than 100,000. That average, calculated over the last seven days, is higher than in any previous surge except last winter’s, before most Americans were eligible to get vaccinated.

The influx of patients is straining hospitals and pushing health care workers to the brink as deaths have risen to an average of more than 1,000 a day for the first time since March. Hospitalisations nationwide have increased by nearly 500% in the past two months, particularly across southern states, where ICU beds are filling up, a crisis fuelled by low vaccination rates and political opposition to health measures like mask mandates. In Florida, 16,457 people are hospitalised, the most of any state, followed by Texas, according to federal data. This month, one in five ICUs had reached or exceeded 95% of beds full. Meanwhile, the EU recommended on Monday that its 27 nations reinstate restrictions on tourists from the US because of rising cases there. NYT