US Covid cases, hospitalisations, deaths continue to climb

Washington, Aug 24 : US Covid-19 new cases, hospitalisations, 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 per cent 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 August 11-August 17 was 11,521, a 14.2 per cent increase from the prior 7-day average (10,088) from August 4- August 10, said the report, Xinhua news agency reported.

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 per cent 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 per cent, 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 on Monday afternoon by the Johns Hopkins University.

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