US COVID-19 hospitalizations hit record eight-month high

The number of coronavirus patients in US hospitals has breached 100,000, the highest level in eight months.

Iran PressAmerica: According to the Department of Health and Human Services, a resurgence of COVID-19 spurred by the highly contagious Delta variant strains the nation's health care system.

US COVID-19 hospitalizations have more than doubled in the past month. Over the past week, more than 500 people with COVID were admitted to hospitals each hour on average, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The United States reached its all-time peak for hospitalizations on Jan. 14 when there were over 142,000 coronavirus-infected patients in hospital beds, according to HHS.

As the vaccination campaign rapidly expanded in early 2021, hospitalizations fell and hit a 2021 low of 16,000 on in late June.

The Delta variant, which is rapidly spreading among mostly the unvaccinated US population, has also sent a record number of children to the hospital. There are currently over 2,000 confirmed and suspected pediatric COVID-19 hospitalizations, according to HHS.

The United States, which leads the world in the most deaths and cases, has reported 38.5 million infections and over 634,000 deaths since the pandemic began last year.

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