U.S. Covid-19 hospitalizations rising among younger people, Michigan situation worse

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Sun, 2021-04-11 11:41 — mike kraft

Covid-19 hospitalizations among younger people are rising in the US -- especially in one region The US just hit a record high of about 4.6 million Covid-19 vaccinations reported administered in one day, according to data published Saturday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Christina Maxouris, CNN CNN

(CNN) The US just hit a record high of about 4.6 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines reported administered in one day, according to data published Saturday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"Amazing Saturday! +4.63M doses administered over total yesterday, a new record," Dr. Cyrus Shahpar, the Covid-19 data director at the White House, wrote on Twitter. "More than 500K higher than old record last Saturday. Incredible number of doses administered."

The new record is great news -- but it comes at a complicated time in the pandemic for the US.

While Covid-19 vaccination numbers climb across the country, Covid-19 cases and hospitalizations are also on the rise, fueled by the B.1.1.7 variant, which is now the dominant strain in the US. Experts say the variant is more contagious, may cause more severe disease and is also potentially more deadly.

In the past seven days, the US has reported an average of more than 68,000 new Covid-19 cases daily, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. That's up by more than 20% since the March 10 seven-day average.

"On the one hand, we have so much reason for optimism and hope, and more Americans are being vaccinated," CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said during a White House Covid-19 briefing Friday. "On the other hand, cases and emergency room visits are up. And ... we are seeing these increases in younger adults, most of whom have not yet been vaccinated."

Americans ages 18 to 64 have seen increasing numbers of emergency department visits, she added.

And the trends are "magnified" in one part of the country, she said: the Upper Midwest.

"CDC is working closely with public health officials in this region to understand what is driving these cases and how we can intervene."

Michigan is currently among the hardest-hit states in the country and local officials say the state is in the middle of another surge, reporting thousands of new cases daily.

The state also has the second-highest number of reported cases of the B.1.1.7 variant after Florida, according to CDC data. And one expert says it's a combination of two factors that have driven up numbers.

"This B.1.1.7 variant... is more contagious and I think there's just fatigue from this pandemic out there so a lot of people don't wear masks, don't social distance, so we've basically taken a step back in Michigan," Dr. Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, told CNN on Saturday....

ALSO SEE: Michigan’s Virus Cases Are Out of Control, Putting Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in a Bind

AND: Why Mississippi Has Few Takers for 73,000 Covid Shots

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