COVID-19 hospitalizations are at their lowest levels since the start of the pandemic

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports just 5,615 were hospitalized in the U.S. due to the coronavirus the week of April 20, the most recent data available. That’s far below the 150,650 who were admitted the week of Jan. 15, 2022, when the Omicron variant was at its peak.

While the CDC will continue to monitor COVID cases, it is seemingly feeling comfortable enough with current levels and the effectiveness of vaccines that, as of May 1, it has stopped requiring hospitals to report COVID-19 admissions, capacity numbers and occupancy data. (It is, however, encouraging them to report that data voluntarily.)

With the ending of required reporting, the agency says it will archive its current admissions chart.

Emergency room visits and hospitalizations were both down dramatically (falling 17.9% and 14.4% respectively) in the past week. Deaths from COVID were down 10%, the agency says. To date, 1,189,603 people have died from COVID—231 of which died in the most recent reporting week.

Vaccination numbers still aren’t especially high, though. The latest CDC figures show 22.6% of the nation’s adults are up to date on their COVID-19 vaccines and just 14% of people between 6 months and 17 years have received the most recent shot.

Only two counties in the U.S. were classified as having “high” levels of COVID-19 admissions—White Pine County, Nevada, and Ness County, Kansas—though that was due to the low number of people who live in each. In each county, just two people were admitted to hospitals because of the virus. The high/medium/low designation is determined by looking at the number of new admissions per 100,000 people in the county’s population.