COVID-19 Hospital-Admission Signal Across the United States

Last updated: August 21, 2026 at 8:00 PM EDT

Low

National COVID-19 activity is low this week. For the week ending Aug 22, 2026, there were 0.8 new COVID-19 hospital admissions per 100,000 people nationally.

→ Stable — similar to 0.7 per 100K last week

0 states very high0 states high8 states moderate43 states low

This is a weekly hospital-burden signal—not a live case count, outpatient-visit measure, or wastewater estimate of infection prevalence.

Hospital-Admission Signal by State

Low

Moderate

High

Very High

No data

All States

State	Activity Level	Per 100K
Florida COVID-19 activity	Moderate	1.5
Louisiana COVID-19 activity	Moderate	1.4
Alabama COVID-19 activity	Moderate	1.3
North Carolina COVID-19 activity	Moderate	1.3
California COVID-19 activity	Moderate	1.2
Hawaii COVID-19 activity	Moderate	1.1
Mississippi COVID-19 activity	Moderate	1.1
Texas COVID-19 activity	Moderate	1.1
Michigan COVID-19 activity	Low	0.9
New Jersey COVID-19 activity	Low	0.9
Georgia COVID-19 activity	Low	0.8
Arizona COVID-19 activity	Low	0.7
New York COVID-19 activity	Low	0.7
Tennessee COVID-19 activity	Low	0.7
Washington COVID-19 activity	Low	0.7
South Carolina COVID-19 activity	Low	0.6
New Mexico COVID-19 activity	Low	0.5
Colorado COVID-19 activity	Low	0.4
New Hampshire COVID-19 activity	Low	0.4
Pennsylvania COVID-19 activity	Low	0.4
Virginia COVID-19 activity	Low	0.4
Alaska COVID-19 activity	Low	0.3
Arkansas COVID-19 activity	Low	0.3
Connecticut COVID-19 activity	Low	0.3
Idaho COVID-19 activity	Low	0.3
Illinois COVID-19 activity	Low	0.3
Kentucky COVID-19 activity	Low	0.3
Massachusetts COVID-19 activity	Low	0.3
Nebraska COVID-19 activity	Low	0.3
Nevada COVID-19 activity	Low	0.3
Oklahoma COVID-19 activity	Low	0.3
Oregon COVID-19 activity	Low	0.3
Rhode Island COVID-19 activity	Low	0.3
Utah COVID-19 activity	Low	0.3
Wisconsin COVID-19 activity	Low	0.3
Kansas COVID-19 activity	Low	0.2
Maryland COVID-19 activity	Low	0.2
Minnesota COVID-19 activity	Low	0.2
Missouri COVID-19 activity	Low	0.2
Ohio COVID-19 activity	Low	0.2
West Virginia COVID-19 activity	Low	0.2
Delaware COVID-19 activity	Low	0.1
District of Columbia COVID-19 activity	Low	0.1
Indiana COVID-19 activity	Low	0.1
Iowa COVID-19 activity	Low	0.1
Maine COVID-19 activity	Low	0.1
Montana COVID-19 activity	Low	0.1
South Dakota COVID-19 activity	Low	0.1
Vermont COVID-19 activity	Low	0.1
North Dakota COVID-19 activity	Low	0.0
Wyoming COVID-19 activity	Low	0.0

National COVID-19 Trend — 2025-2026 Season

National COVID-19 Rt Direction Estimate

Rt = 1.08median across states with an estimate

states declining

states stable

states growing

CDC Rt estimates as of Aug 25, 2026. Source

Sources & Methods

Source: CDC NHSN Hospital Respiratory Data

Last updated: 2026-08-22

How we process this data →

COVID-19 data reflects confirmed hospital admissions reported through the CDC's NHSN system. Activity levels are based on new admissions per 100,000 population per week. Hospitalization data may undercount total infections as most COVID-19 cases are now managed at home.Learn more about our methods.

Frequently Asked Questions

How is COVID-19 activity measured on this site?

This page tracks COVID-19 using hospital admission data from the CDC NHSN system. The metric shown is new COVID-19-confirmed hospital admissions per 100,000 people per week. This captures the burden on the healthcare system.

Why use hospitalization data instead of case counts?

Since widespread testing ended, COVID-19 case counts no longer reflect true infection levels. Hospitalization data provides a more reliable measure of disease severity and healthcare impact. It is consistently reported by hospitals nationwide.

How often is COVID-19 data updated?

COVID-19 hospitalization data is updated weekly. The CDC publishes new hospital capacity and admission data each week, typically with a 1-2 week reporting lag.

Local Health Signal is not affiliated with the CDC or any government agency. Data is provided for informational purposes only and is not intended for clinical decision making. See our methods page for details on data sources and limitations.