The US is averaging 100,000 COVID-19 hospitalizations for the first time since February
- The US is averaging over 100,000 COVID-19 hospitalizations a day for the first time since February.
- In the past two months, hospitalizations increased by nearly 500%, according to The New York Times.
- Deaths have climbed to 1,000 a day for the first time since March.
The US is averaging over 100,000 COVID-19 hospitalizations a day for the first time since February, before many were eligible to get vaccinated, The New York Times reported Sunday.
In the past two months, hospitalizations across the country have increased by nearly 500%, The Times said. Florida claims the country's highest hospitalizations tally with 16,457, according to the US Department of Health and Human Services.
The report said that this month, one in five American ICUs reached or exceeded 95% capacity.
"I've never seen anything quite like it," Knoxville Dr. Shannon Byrd told The Times. "It's bringing whole families down and tearing families apart. They're dying in droves and leaving surviving loved ones with a lot of funerals to go to."
Byrd said the vast majority of the people hospitalized with COVID-19 were unvaccinated.
Meanwhile, deaths have climbed to 1,000 a day for the first time since March, the report said.
A forecast from researchers at the University of Washington found that the US is on track to record another 100,000 COVID-19 deaths by December 1, adding to more than 637,500 deaths currently recorded.
Experts told the Associated Press that the prediction can fluctuate based on people's behavior and some said mask-wearing in public spaces could cut the future death toll.
"Behavior is really going to determine if, when, and how sustainably the current wave subsides," Lauren Ancel Meyers, director of the University of Texas COVID-19 Modeling Consortium, told the AP. "We cannot stop Delta in its tracks, but we can change our behavior overnight."