Covid hospitalizations are at a new high

Plus: How to spot a counterfeit face mask

Although the number of new Covid cases in the United States has peaked and is slowly starting to come down, the omicron wave is still leaving a devastating wake. According to the CDC, the 7-day average for Covid-19 deaths in the United States is 1,991. That’s higher than what was seen at the peak of the delta wave last summer, and the trend so far is still going up. The pressure of the omicron wave is hitting hospitals hard, as well. Intensive care unit occupancy has spiked as Covid patients flood hospitals, and multiple states are at over 90% capacity in ICUs. Overally, ICUs are about 84% full, with Covid patients taking up about a third of all ICU beds nationwide. Alabama, which ran out of ICU beds entirely in late August, is being crushed again and is at 95% capacity. There’s nearly 160,000 patients in U.S. hospitals right now - the highest number ever seen during the pandemic.   

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More Covid News

A California state senator announced a new bill Monday that, if passed, would require all school children ages 5 and up to be vaccinated for Covid-19.

The World Health Organization warned against treating Covid-19 like the flu, countering a growing trend as governments around the world observe waves of omicron infections, drop pandemic restrictions and tell people they must learn to live with the virus.

On Monday, Chinese authorities lifted a month-long pandemic lockdown in the city of Xi’an and its 13 million residents as Covid-19 cases in the region abated. 

By necessity - due to supply constraints and regulatory approvals - Covid patients are frequently treated with only one therapy. But if this isn’t changed in the long-term, this protocol risks the evolution of resistance in the virus. 

What Else We Are Reading

• COVID-19: endemic doesn’t mean harmless (Nature)

• They built a smarter approach to Covid clinical trials. Now they want to do the same for other diseases (Stat)

• Rising Covid cases in US nursing homes prompt hospital warnings (The Guardian)