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Hospitals Across the U.S. Are Crammed With Covid-19 Patients

U.S. hospitalizations for Covid-19 hit the highest point since Aug. 22, with New York doubling its count from early September.

Hospitals Across the U.S. Are Crammed With Covid-19 Patients
An oxygen cylinder sits next to a bed in a makeshift ward at an emergency Covid-19 care center set up in the Shehnai Banquet Hall at the Lok Nayak Jai Prakash Hospital Annexe in New Delhi. (Photographer T. Narayan/Bloomberg)

U.S. hospitalizations for Covid-19 hit the highest point since Aug. 22, with New York doubling its count from early September and at least 10 other states reporting records.

The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, meanwhile, cited four national studies that predicted a probable in-patient increase of as much as 6,200 daily over the next four weeks.

The U.S. on Tuesday had 39,230 people in hospitals, according to the Covid Tracking Project. Of those, 8,178 were in intensive-care units; it’s been two months since the U.S. had more under such care. The number on ventilators, 1,889, reached its highest since Sept. 10.

Across the country, 37 states are reporting increased hospitalizations, including 21 states that have recently reported new records or are approaching previous highs, according to Johns Hopkins University data. While the trend is national, the hardest-hit region is the Midwest, according to the university.

Hospitals Across the U.S. Are Crammed With Covid-19 Patients

New York’s hospitalization count exceeded 900 for the first time since May and New Jersey’s hit 844, highest since July. States reporting records on Tuesday included Wisconsin, Iowa, Nebraska and Ohio, which had 1,221 patients.

Ohio had 142 deaths for two weeks ending Oct. 17. It’s predicted to have 220 deaths for the two weeks ending Oct. 31. That’s a difference of 78 fatalities, the most in the country, for a total of 5,287, according to the Covid-19 Forecast Hub, which compiles data from more than 50 global research groups.

Hospitals Across the U.S. Are Crammed With Covid-19 Patients

Elsewhere:

  • Riverside County, California, the 10th-most-populous U.S. county, will operate under the state’s most restrictive tier of pandemic protections, forcing some businesses to close, after its low testing rate was deemed unsatisfactory.
  • Nevada, where hundreds of supporters gathered on Sunday to see President Donald Trump in Carson City, reported 9.1% positivity, a six-week high. Testing, though, fell to 6,284 on a 14-day moving average, from 6,434 on Sept. 30, according to state data. Scant testing can result in higher positivity rates.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.