These 12 States Keep Hospitalizing People With COVID-19

The latest COVID-19 wave seems to be easing but is continuing to push up U.S. hospitalization rates, both for older adults and for people in their prime working years. U.S. hospitals reported admitting a total of 16,166 people ages 20 and older with COVID-19 during the week ending Sept. 9, according to the latest COVID-19 hospitalization data posted by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The adult hospitalization count was up 1.4% from the number recorded the previous week. It's 21% lower than the count for the week ending Sept. 9, which was the highest count recorded during the current wave. But the latest count is still 157% higher than the count reported for the week ending July 8, when the wave began. For adults ages 20 through 59, who may be more likely to have life insurance and save for retirement than older people, the hospitalization count for the latest week was 3,340. That's down 34% from the total for the week ending Sept. 9 but is 132% higher than the count for the week ending July 8. For the 12 states where the latest wave is still hitting hard, and where hospitalization counts for working-age adults have increased the most since the week of Sept. 9, see the gallery above. For data on all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, see the chart below. What it means: Relatively high COVID-19 hospitalization rates could be a sign that high U.S. mortality rates will continue to throw off any life insurance or retirement planning efforts that involve life expectancy estimates. The numbers: The federal government gathers reports from hospitals to track how COVID-19 and influenza are affecting hospitals' ability to serve their patients. COVID-19 surfaced in the United States in early 2020. The government has been tracking hospital impact data in a roughly similar format since August 2020. The new COVID-19 wave is small compared with the waves that hit earlier in the pandemic. The U.S. hospitalization count peaked at about 147,000 during the week ending Jan. 15, 2022. Deaths: Hospitals report COVID-related death counts without breaking the numbers down by age. The total number of COVID-related deaths recorded at hospitals increased to 587 during the latest week. That was down 1% from the total for the previous week but was up 15% from the total for the week ending Sept. 9. It was up 67% from the total for the week ending July 8. The current numbers compare with a peak pandemic-period death count of about 16,000 recorded during the week of Jan. 16, 2021.