Here are seven COVID-19 updates from the last week:
1. The omicron coronavirus variant may pose more of a threat for youths than earlier variants, according to a study of early hospitalization data from a large medical insurance program in South Africa.
2. The federal government on Jan. 18 launched its website for Americans to request free rapid COVID-19 test kits be shipped to their homes.
3. Since the pandemic began, 1 in 5 Americans — or 20 percent — have contracted COVID-19 at one point, according to data from Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins University.
4. COVID-19 is peaking in the Northeast and hospitalizations are at record high numbers nationwide, though some parts of the country are seeing cases plateau or fall, according to Surgeon General Vivek Murthy, MD. Here are two more forecasts to know.
5. Nationwide, 81.78 percent of all ICU beds are in use as of Jan. 18, down slightly from 83.05 percent as of Jan. 14. Rhode Island has the most intensive care unit beds in use as of Jan. 18 while Wyoming has the fewest in use, according to HHS data.
6. New daily COVID-19 hospitalization rates in the U.S. have risen 42 percent over the last two weeks, with all 50 states and the District of Columbia seeing hospitalization rates trend upward. Here are the states ranked by COVID-19 hospitalization rates as of Jan. 20.
7. COVID-19 hospitalizations of unvaccinated adults cost $13.8 billion from June to November of 2021, according to a recent analysis by Kaiser Family Foundation.