As holiday-related reporting delays may skew COVID-19 data, the CDC recommends interpreting the below data with caution.
Four updates:
1. Surveillance: The national percentage of positive COVID-19 specimens was 15 percent in the week ending Jan. 2, up from 12.9 percent a week prior. Test positivity increased among all age groups and in every HHS surveillance region.
2. Outpatient activity: The overall percentage of outpatient or emergency department visits for flu- or COVID-19-like symptoms decreased or remained stable nationwide. Regionally, outpatient activity was stable or fell in eight regions but increased in the Southeast and South Central regions.
3. Hospitalizations: The cumulative hospitalization rate for all age groups was 343.4 per 100,000 population in the week ending Jan. 2.
4. Mortality: About 15.5 percent of deaths nationwide were attributed to flu, pneumonia or COVID-19 in the week ending Jan. 2. This figure sits above the epidemic threshold of 6.9 percent.
More articles on public health:
UK variant found in 8 states; hospitalizations top 100K for 40 days — 6 COVID-19 updates
‘Lawless’ vaccine rollout; 22 UK variant cases — 9 things to know about COVID-19 in Florida
How new Japan coronavirus variant compares to UK, South Africa strains: 6 notes
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