By Berkeley Lovelace Jr, Joe Murphy and Monica Hersher -
NBC News
Coronavirus hospitalizations are on the rise again in the United States.
Among the more than 30 states that have seen COVID-19 hospitalizations increase in the past two weeks, six stand out.
Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania, New York and Illinois have accounted for most of the increase in occupied hospital beds in the country, according to an analysis by our sister network NBC News of data from the US Department of Health and Human Services. .
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While these states represent 35% of the population among states with increasing COVID-19 hospitalizations, they account for 60% of added beds, according to the analysis.
The nationwide increase began in early November, when the United States recorded an average of 45,000 daily hospitalizations.
Since then, it has risen to nearly 58,000 a day, according to the analysis.
Health experts say they fear hospitalizations will continue to rise this winter as more Americans stay home and the rapidly spreading delta variant continues.
Since the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) began tracking coronavirus hospitalizations in early 2020, the United States has passed the 50,000 mark five times.
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The first wave of hospitalizations this summer peaked at more than 100,000 hospitalizations, on average, and last winter's wave had a peak of more than 137,000 hospitalizations, on average.
Although much of the world is focused on the new omicron variant, first identified in South Africa, the delta remains a threat, since "more than 99% of sequenced cases in the United States remain from" that strain, he explained. On Tuesday, Dr. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), at a White House Coronavirus Response Team briefing.
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Hospitalizations in Michigan, which has the highest proportion of new hospitalizations when adjusted for population, have risen 70% since Nov. 10.
In the neighboring states of Indiana and Illinois, hospitalizations have nearly doubled.
In Michigan, 3 out of 4 coronavirus patients are not vaccinated, according to Chelsea Wuth, associate public information officer for the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.
Unvaccinated people represent 87% of coronavirus-infected patients who are in an intensive care unit in the state, and 88% of infected patients who have required assisted ventilation are not vaccinated.
More than 70% of Michiganians age 16 and older have been vaccinated against COVID-19 at least once.
Dr. William Dittrich observes a patient with COVID-19 in the Medical Intensive Care Unit (MICU) at St. Luke's Boise Medical Center in Boise, Idaho, on August 31, 2021. Kyle Green / AP
Dr. Matthew Sims, a physician and director of infectious disease research at Beaumont Health, the state's largest healthcare system, said
"nearly all" arriving coronavirus patients are not vaccinated
.
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As of Tuesday there were 600 COVID-19 patients and the staff is exhausted.
“We have been doing this for a long time.
It is exhausting for nurses, doctors and everyone when we see this huge number of patients arriving unvaccinated, ”he lamented.
The system's network of hospitals and outpatient centers is poised for a possible increase in patients this winter and they have gathered enough personal protective equipment and ordered all staff to be vaccinated.
According to experts, it is not yet clear if the omicron variant, which has undergone a strong mutation, will aggravate the situation seen in hospitals during the colder months, although early reports suggest that the new strain may cause milder symptoms.
Sims said he worries about the omicron "and if it's going to take over and make things worse."
The fact that it has about 50 mutations "is scary," he said, but added that scientists and the public have yet to wait for more data.
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In Ohio, the state with the second-highest share of new hospitalizations, health officials warned last week that the state is approaching the record admissions seen in January, when there were about 4,000 hospitalized coronavirus patients statewide.
Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff, director of the Ohio Department of Health, said during a news conference that cases are not occurring uniformly across age groups.
Young people, especially those between 23 and 49 years old, have an infection rate that is 25% higher than the state average.
As in Michigan, the vast majority of hospitalized patients in Ohio are not vaccinated, according to Vanderhoff.
State officials continue to urge people to get vaccinated.
This would help the state's hospitals cope with staffing problems.
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"Most hospitals don't have the flexibility that perhaps we had last year to expand capacity in the short term when there was an emergency or a surge in local patients," said Dr. Andy Thomas of Wexner State University Medical Center. Ohio, in the same briefing.
"If these trends continue through December through January, we will reach a point where Ohio hospitals will not be able to serve all the patients we need," he said.
Last week in New York State, where there is the fifth highest proportion of new hospitalizations, Governor Kathy Hochul announced that hospitals with less than 10% capacity must stop performing elective surgeries until at least January 15. 2020.
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There are about 50 hospitals that meet that criteria, the vast majority of which are in the north of the state, Hochul said during a news conference last Thursday.
Dr. Celine Gounder, an infectious disease specialist at NYU Langone Health in New York, said people may be tired as the country approaches two years into the pandemic.
People "think in terms of personal action, personal responsibility, personal freedom, and unfortunately this is not how viruses are transmitted and infected," he recalled.
