COVID-19 ebbs, but US hospital cases, deaths stay high

Across the country new daily case counts for COVID-19 are declining, but cities and states are still struggling with high demands for hospital services, and Los Angeles late last week reported its most deaths in a single day since Mar 10, 2021.In Los Angeles, 102 COVID-19 related deaths were reported, and hospitalizations are also rising, with more than 4,000 people hospitalized for the virus, the most recorded since February 2021.According to ABC News, 90% of the deaths recorded in Los Angeles last week occurred in people who contracted the virus after Christmas, suggesting the new numbers were due to the highly infectious Omicron variant."We're still seeing a mortality rate of about 1.4%.

It's just the sheer number of people who are infected is extremely high, so 1.4% of a very, very large number gives you a higher number of absolute deaths," Jeffrey Smith, MD, executive vice president of hospital operations and chief operating officer at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, told ABC.The United States reported 204,804 new COVID-19 cases yesterday and 572 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins COVID-19 tracker.The 7-day average of new daily cases is 695,757, with 2,018 daily deaths, according to the Washington Post tracker.

New daily cases fell 14% in the past week, deaths rose 8%, and hospitalizations fell 3%.Record hospital cases in ArkansasAlmost 2 years into the pandemic, Arkansas this weekend reported its most hospitalized COVID-19 patients, the Associated Press reports.Almost 1,700 people in that state are hospitalized with COVID-19.

Vaccination rates in the state hover around 54%."This upcoming week will tell us what February will look like. Listen to your trusted medical professional and get the vaccine and booster,"