U.S. Covid hospitalizations double since May, driven by BA.5

Covid hospitalizations double since May, driven by BA.5 The highly contagious omicron subvariant now accounts for more than half of new infections in the U.S. NBC News

Hospitals across the country are bracing for another surge in Covid-19 patients as the highly contagious omicron subvariant BA.5 sweeps the nation. 

“Statewide, we’re definitely seeing an increase,” said Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo, director of the infectious diseases division at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. 

In Utah, Dr. Brandon Webb, an infectious diseases physician at Intermountain Healthcare in Salt Lake City, said his health care system has noted a “significant uptick in hospitalizations over the last month.”

Nationwide, hospitalizations have doubled since May, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said during a media briefing Tuesday. An NBC News analysis found that Covid-related hospitalizations are up in all but four states, with the biggest recent jumps in the South.

The increase is driven by BA.5 and another closely related subvariant, BA.4, Walenksy said. BA.5 accounted for 65% of new cases for the week ending July 9, according to the CDC. BA.4 accounted for 16.3%. 

Both subvariants are “more transmissible and more immune evading” than previous versions of omicron. That is, any immunity a person has from vaccination or previous infection may offer little to no protection against what’s currently circulating.

“Even if somebody had an infection in the massive wave of last winter,” said Dr. Jorge Salinas, an epidemiologist and infectious diseases expert at Stanford University, “they could still get sick with these new variants.” Salinas, too, has noted the increase in Covid-related hospitalizations.

There is no indication that these subvariants are more dangerous. They do not “appear to be associated with greater disease severity or hospitalizations compared to the most recent subvariants,” Dr. Anthony Fauci, the president's chief medical adviser, said during Tuesday’s briefing.

...