While COVID-19 cases remain low compared to the pandemic peak, there is an uptick in infections across the country, including Indiana.
Nationwide, COVID-19 hospitalizations are up by 21.6% for the week of August 6-12 from the prior week, according to the CDC. COVID-19 related deaths have increased by 8.3%. In Indiana, hospital admissions increased by 14.7% from the past week.
Between June and July, Indiana’s COVID-19 hospitalization rates increased almost 40%, and the nationwide rate increased by about 17%, according to the CDC.
Indiana reported 3,554 COVID-19 cases in July and 7,464 in August, according to the Indiana Department of Health. Monroe County had 67 cases in July and 137 in August.
Still, the cases and hospitalizations are significantly lower than the early days of the pandemic era. Compared to the weekly high of over 150,000 hospital admissions nationwide in January 2022, the week of August 12 saw about 12,000 admissions. The week of June 24 had the lowest number of admissions since the beginning of the pandemic, with 6,313.
This rise in infections comes after President Joe Biden ended the national emergency response to the COVID-19 pandemic in April and the public health emergency expired in May.
[Related: Biden signs measure to immediately end COVID-19 national emergency]
It also comes shortly before new COVID-19 vaccines are expected to be available this fall, CBS News reported. Almost all children and adults will be eligible to get vaccines from Moderna, Pfizer and Novavax designed to target the XBB variant.
As of August 12, 58% of Indiana’s population has received the primary series of COVID-19 vaccines, including 90% of people aged 65 and up. About 11% of the population has received a bivalent booster.
