Coronavirus tally: U.S.COVID cases and hospitalizations are climbing as BA.5 takes hold

COVID Case Numbers And Hospitalizations Continue to Increase

U.S. COVID cases and hospitalizations are rising again to the highest seen this summer so far, as the BA.5 omicron subvariant becomes dominant. BA.5 is understood to be the most transmissible variant seen so far and to have an ability to break through vaccination and cause reinfection. BA.5 accounted for more than 53% of global cases sequenced in the week through July 10, according to the World Health Organization, and the U.S. had the highest number of new cases, including in President Joe Biden. The daily average for new U.S. cases stood at 128,513 on Thursday, according to a New York Times tracker, up 19% from two weeks ago. The daily average for hospitalizations rose to 42,449, up 18% in two weeks. The daily average for deaths is up 34% to 437. Globally, the confirmed case tally rose above 567.9 million on Friday, according to data aggregated by Johns Hopkins, while the death toll is above 6.38 million with the U.S. leading the world with 90.2 million cases and 1,026,294 deaths.