With daily Covid cases up 18 per cent and increasing ICU bed occupancy, US Covid rebound is as bad as ever!  

The seven-day average of reported Covid-19 infections in the US has increased by 18 per cent, said Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Rochelle Walensky.

The latest seven-day average of cases is 92,800 per day, an 18 per cent surge from last week and hospitalisation rates have increased 6 per cent with a daily average of 5,600, Xinhua news agency quoted Walensky as saying at a White House briefing on Monday.

“Heading into the winter months, when respiratory viruses are more likely to spread, and with plans for increased holiday season travel and gatherings, boosting people’s overall protection against Covid-19 disease and death was important to do now,” Walensky said.

The unvaccinated continue to drive the pandemic, she said.

According to the most up-to-date information on the CDC data tracker, unvaccinated people are six times more likely to test positive for the virus, nine times more likely to be hospitalised, and 14 times more likely to die.

About 47 million eligible American adults and 12 million eligible teens are still not vaccinated, Walensky said.

Till date, 196.4 million Americans have been fully vaccinated against the virus, and 36.1 million have received a booster dose, according to CDC data.

As of Tuesday, the US continues to be the worst-hit country with the world’s highest number of cases and deaths at 47,886,798 and 772,414.

Meanwhile, a study of Department of Health and Human Services revealed that the country is seeing outbreaks that are as bad as ever because of the increased occupancy of intensive-care units (ICU).

As per the data, patients with confirmed or suspected Covid, especially in 15 states, are taking up more ICU beds than last year.

In Colorado, 41 per cent of ICU beds have been already occupied by Covid-19 patients, while in Minnesota and Michigan the ICU beds occupancy percentage stands at 37 and 34.

A total of 21 per cent adults undergoing treatment at St. Luke’s Health System are Covid-19 patients while 41 per cent of them have been admitted at the ICU, according to Jim Souza, chief physician executive.

Likewise, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy said that the admission of patients in the State has jumped by 15 per cent in the past week with those in ICUs up 24 per cent.

As the ICU beds occupancy percentage by the Covid patients is increasing day by day, there is less space in hospitals for those suffering from other ailments.

More than 1,000 average deaths from Covid have been reported in the country every day for more than three months and it is all because of the increases in infections, said the report.

(With inputs from IANS & bloomberg.com)