5 Worst States for COVID-19 Mortality Change Now

The number of new COVID-19 patients flowing into adult hospital intensive care unit (ICU) beds may be starting to flatten out — partly because, in some states, adult ICU units are full — but the U.S. COVID-19 death rate is increasing in most states. In the typical state, patients with COVID-19 occupied about 25% of staffed adult ICU beds during the week ending Aug. 31, according to data collected by the Data Strategy and Execution Workgroup, an arm of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That was up 3 percentage points from the state median for the week ending Aug. 24. The COVID-19 adult ICU bed ranged from 6%, in New Jersey, up to 55%, in Mississippi. The change in the number of deaths was more dramatic. The HHS recorded 6,789 COVID-19 deaths in the 50 states and the District of Columbia for the week ending Aug. 31, up 37% from the week before. At the state level, the change in the number of deaths ranged from a decrease of 77%, in  Florida, up to an increase of 182%, in one state in Appalachia. Health insurers have reported that decreases in spending on ordinary care tend to offset increases in spending on COVID-19 care, but increases in mortality could have a direct effect on life insurers' and life reinsurers' spending on death benefits. For COVID-19 ICU occupancy and mortality figures for all 50 states and the District of Columbia, see the table below. For the names of the five states with the worst increases in COVID-19 mortality, see the slideshow above.

Hospital Adult Intensive Care Unit Occupancy and Mortality
(As of the week ending Aug. 31)
	Adult Staffed ICU Beds Occupied by COVID-19 Patients (in percent)	Change in Staffed Adult ICU Beds Occupied by COVID-19 Patients, Since Previous Week (in percentage points)	Deaths (last 7 days)	Change in Deaths, Since Previous Week (in percent)
Alabama	49%	2%	89	-10%
Alaska	30%	4%	21	91%
Arizona	22%	2%	187	38%
Arkansas	45%	1%	208	1%
California	28%	2%	159	-54%
Colorado	21%	3%	51	38%
Connecticut	9%	2%	23	-18%
Delaware	17%	3%	23	44%
District of Columbia	8%	0%	4	-20%
Florida	48%	-2%	230	-77%
Georgia	46%	1%	378	52%
Hawaii	39%	8%	25	108%
Idaho	46%	4%	30	-40%
Illinois	14%	1%	197	30%
Indiana	25%	4%	156	117%
Iowa	21%	5%	42	162%
Kansas	27%	1%	59	-43%
Kentucky	38%	8%	183	182%
Louisiana	48%	1%	382	-3%
Maine	18%	5%	8	-50%
Maryland	13%	1%	58	2%
Massachusetts	11%	3%	50	61%
Michigan	11%	3%	85	25%
Minnesota	17%	3%	36	20%
Mississippi	55%	0%	178	55%
Missouri	36%	-1%	234	4%
Montana	25%	3%	27	12%
Nebraska	17%	-1%	10	0%
Nevada	34%	0%	173	49%
New Hampshire	11%	1%	14	100%
New Jersey	6%	1%	109	85%
New Mexico	33%	4%	31	19%
New York	9%	1%	184	12%
North Carolina	37%	5%	213	21%
North Dakota	9%	1%	7	40%
Ohio	16%	3%	110	47%
Oklahoma	42%	2%	189	42%
Oregon	31%	6%	119	37%
Pennsylvania	13%	3%	136	21%
Rhode Island	14%	3%	12	50%
South Carolina	40%	3%	238	33%
South Dakota	18%	4%	10	150%
Tennessee	37%	5%	225	84%
Texas	50%	3%	1,381	50%
Utah	27%	3%	44	-6%
Vermont	9%	-1%	5	25%
Virginia	18%	2%	149	119%
Washington	31%	5%	151	12%
West Virginia	26%	6%	58	107%
Wisconsin	17%	2%	72	47%
Wyoming	29%	10%	26	62%
TOTAL	-	-	6,789	-
MEDIAN	25%	3%	-	37%
Source: HHS

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