BREAKING: COVID hospitalizations are growing by 5% or more each day in 37 states. AK, MO, NE, OK, SD, UT, and WI all hit record highs

Coronavirus hospitalizations are growing in a majority of U.S. states as Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease expert, warns that the world is not yet “on the road” to ending the pandemic.

Coronavirus hospitalizations, like the so-called positivity rate and deaths ,are a key measure because they help scientists gauge the pandemic’s severity.

Covid-19 hospitalizations were growing by 5% or more in 37 states as of Sunday, according to a CNBC analysis of data collected by the Covid Tracking Project, an increase from 36 states a week earlier. Figures are based on a weekly averages to smooth out daily reporting.

Alaska, Iowa, Kentucky, Montana, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Utah, Wisconsin and West Virginia all hit record highs in the average of hospitalizations, the Covid Tracking Project data shows. The District of Columbia and Hawaii are the only two places where hospitalizations are declining, according to the data.

In Texas, where hospitalizations are growing, 6.71% of beds across its hospitals have Covid-19 patients as of Sunday, according to state data. In Wisconsin, 10.9% of its beds have Covid-19 patients, state data shows.

“What’s concerning here is that it’s only mid-October and there is a long fall and winter,” said Dr. Isaac Bogoch, an infectious disease specialist and professor at the University of Toronto.

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