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A summer surge in COVID cases continues as 26 states have reported a "substantial increase" in the number of people hospitalized due to the virus.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines a "substantial increase" as a 20% increase in hospitalizations within a single week.
Despite the increase, the total number of hospitalizations remains relatively low at 15,067. That marks an 18.8% increase from last week and is the sixth consecutive week in which the number of hospitalizations has increased.
The number of people hospitalized is about 2.5 times lower than last year.
"Looking at that graph [of] hospitalizations, even though it's on an upward trend, that's still lower than it was last year at this time," Dr. John Segreti, an epidemiologist and the medical director of infection control and prevention at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, told ABC News. "The fact that the numbers are going up fairly slowly, I think, is a good sign."
Some health experts expect the pattern of an increase in the summer, followed by a larger increase in the late fall and early winter, will become the new normal as the virus becomes endemic.
"Overall, I would expect cases and hospitalizations to increase – then decrease again before they rise in the late fall and early winter," said Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious disease expert at UCSF, when asked about back-to-school season's impact on COVID spread, according to The Hill.
"This has been the pattern for the past three years and may be where COVID may settle to a smaller swell in the summer and a larger increase in cases in the late fall and winter," he said.
An updated COVID-19 vaccine is in the works and is expected to be authorized by mid-September.