"Oklahoma's COVID Hospitalizations Surge During Summer"

COVID-related hospitalizations have surged across the United States, with a 12% increase in the last week. The CDC has identified 17 counties with "medium" hospitalization rates, including Navarro and Freestone counties in Texas, where hospitalizations have tripled in a week. Other areas of concern include parts of Texas, Oregon, Oklahoma, Hawaii, Nebraska, Arizona, and Georgia. The spike in hospitalizations is attributed to the summer surge of COVID-19, which has become a recurring trend in recent years. The CDC no longer tracks infections, making hospitalizations a crucial indicator of the virus's spread. The dominant variant remains the omicron variant, accounting for 99.9% of cases.