As concerns continue about a possible rise in new COVID-19 cases over the next several months, a map shows which states are currently seeing an increase in COVID-19 deaths.
New COVID-19 hospitalizations have recently increased in some states prompting medical centers in New York and parts of California to announce a return to masking requirements. Dr. Karen Smith, Sonoma County's Health Officer in California, said last week, "Each year we see that higher rates of influenza, COVID-19 and other respiratory viruses that can cause severe respiratory infections occur annually between late fall and spring," following an announcement of a return to mask mandates for staff members beginning on November 1.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updates a weekly tracking map to show where COVID-19 deaths and hospitalizations are currently rising.
On Tuesday, a spokesperson for the CDC told Newsweek, "Overall, COVID-19-related deaths remain low nationally. However, sadly, the CDC reported 959 deaths for the week ending August 26, 2023. This is the most recent week for which we have the most complete data."
The map shows four states that are labeled in yellow and orange to classify as areas with a higher increase in COVID-19 deaths compared to other states. These four states include Mississippi, Georgia, Kentucky and West Virginia.
According to the map, Kentucky has seen the largest increase in new COVID-19 deaths compared to the week prior, with an 87.9 percent increase. Overall, COVID-19 has accounted for 6.2 percent of deaths in Kentucky for the week ending on September 16.
In West Virginia, COVID-19 deaths have increased by 48.1 percent for the week ending on September 16, compared to the week earlier. Four percent of deaths in West Virginia over the past week have been due to COVID-19, the map shows.
In Mississippi, the state has seen a 37.9 percent increase in COVID-19 deaths over the past week, while Georgia has seen a 28.6 percent increase for the same period. In Mississippi and Georgia, 4 percent and 4.5 percent of deaths have been due to COVID-19, respectively.
"The percent of deaths due to COVID-19 has increased slightly in recent weeks. Nationally 2.7 percent of reported deaths were attributed to COVID-19 deaths for the week ending September 16, up from 2.4 percent the previous week. The percentage of deaths due to COVID-19 for the week ending September 17, 2022, was 4.3 percent," the spokesperson told Newsweek.
In regard to hospitalizations, a CDC spokesperson previously told Newsweek, "Overall, COVID-19 hospital admissions remain low, with 20,538 new COVID-19 hospital admissions nationally for the week of September 3 through September 9, 2023, compared to 19,068 hospital admissions the previous week. This represents a 7.71 percent increase in new COVID-19 hospital admissions from the previous week."
