COVID-19 hospital admissions rising in Mid-Missouri
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
COVID-19 hospital admissions have been on the rise nationwide in recent weeks, and that trend could continue Thursday when the latest data is released.
Admissions were up more than 20% for the week ending Aug. 12, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The spike is happening right as students are returning to classrooms in Missouri.
"Mid-Missouri area, we've definitely been seeing an uptick in COVID cases, both presenting to clinic as well as coming into care and other places. And I think everyone right now probably knows someone who has had COVID recently and it's starting to creep back on us," said Dr. Laura Morris, MD, MSHD, Associate Chief medical officer for Ambulatory Care at MU Healthcare.
Hospitalizations in Missouri have been trending up since last month, according to the CDC.
Boone County's week-over-week admissions doubled, along with Howard, Chariton, Audrain, Pulaski, Phelps, Dent and Reynolds counties.
Bates, Henry, and St. Clair counties had a 300% increase in hospital admissions from prior weeks, and Montgomery, St. Charles, Warren, and Lincoln counties had a 650% spike.
"But because the virus continued to mutate and show new variants, I think it is still wise to be cautious and to say that an increase is probably expected, given what's happening with people returning back to school, with people traveling," Morris said. "But, we don't know how high the peak will be until we're past it."
According to Yale Medicine, the newest dominant variant, EG.5, is a descendant of omicron and is the cause of the rise in cases the nation has been seeing this summer. Reports have shown the strain to be more transmissible, having a more powerful effect than prior strains.
