Coronavirus tally: Daily hospitalizations and deaths keep climbing, as cases rise to top of recent range

While health regulators debated over how to proceed with developing new booster shots, COVID-19-related hospitalizations and deaths have quietly climbed to new multi-month highs as cases bump up against the top of a six-week range. The seven-day average of new cases rose 7% from two weeks ago to 112,464 on Wednesday, according to a New York Times tracker. The highest reading over the past six weeks was 112,797 on June 7. Big increases in the South, with Arkansas, Mississippi and Alabama seeing cases surge more than 50% in two weeks, offset declines in most Northeast states. The daily average for hospitalizations, which has been rising every day since April 18, rose 9% from two weeks ago to 32,706 on Wednesday, the most since March 9. The daily average for deaths jumped 18% from two weeks ago to 388, the most since April 19.

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