U.S. CDC Publishes Key COVID-19 Updates for Week #1

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported for Week #1, ending January 9, 2021, the percentage of fatalities due to pneumonia, influenza, and COVID-19 (PIC) increased during the most recent week after declining for three weeks.

Based on death certificate data, the percentage of deaths attributed to PIC was 17.2%.

Nationally, the overall percentage of respiratory specimens testing positive for SARS-CoV-2, the betacoronavirus causing COVID-19, decreased from 15.4% during Week #53 to 14.5% #1. And the percentage of specimens testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 increased in Region 1 [New England] but decreased in the other nine regions in the USA.

In December 2020, the overall weekly hospitalization rate reached its highest point since the COVID-19 pandemic began and remained elevated. Although reported rates have declined in recent weeks, these rates are likely to increase as additional data are reported.

Furthermore, the CDC reported on January 15th, among sampled adults hospitalized during March 1–October 31, 2020, with information on underlying medical conditions, 90.0% had at least one reported underlying medical condition. The most-reported underlying medical conditions were hypertension (56.4%), obesity (48.6%), metabolic disease (41.6%), and cardiovascular disease (32.6%).

Among 971 children hospitalized during March 1–October 31, 2020, with information on underlying conditions, 52.0% had at least one reported underlying medical condition. The most-reported underlying medical conditions were obesity (37.7%), neurologic disease (13.4%), and asthma (11.4%).