COVID cases climbed in Pa. and N.J. in the wake of Thanksgiving

COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in the Philadelphia region have increased in the two weeks after Thanksgiving, local and national health data showed.

The rate of increase tracks with trends seen after holiday gatherings earlier in the pandemic. Nationally, cases rose 28% and hospitalizations 29% over the last two weeks. But there were significantly fewer cases compared with the same period in previous years.

The United States reported an average of 54,369 daily cases Wednesday. That’s about half the cases recorded around the same time last year, when the nation reported more than 119,000 daily cases, and more than 204,000 cases in December 2020.

At the same time, new cases are likely being undercounted. More people are testing for COVID using home tests, which are rarely reported to public health agencies, or not testing at all.

Hospitalizations are also much lower than in past years. There are about 37,000 people hospitalized with the virus right now. A year ago, there were more than 61,000. In 2020, more than three times as many people were in the hospital with COVID.

Average daily deaths declined by 10% over the last two weeks to about 287 per day. That compares with an average of 1,263 people dying daily at this time a year ago each day of COVID.

The situation in Philadelphia mirrors the national picture.

“There is a lot of infection,” Cheryl Bettigole, the Philadelphia health commissioner, said in an interview Wednesday. “Not a huge amount of hospitalizations. Not huge numbers of deaths.”

Health officials are encouraging people to resume COVID precautions. Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, this week urged people to wear masks indoors and on public transit, because of the risk from COVID, RSV, and flu.

Speaking in Philadelphia on Tuesday at the Bloomberg American Health Summit, she also encouraged people to get flu shots and COVID boosters. Less than 33% of people over the age of 65 have received the latest bivalent booster shot, a population typically more susceptible to serious consequences from a COVID infection, she said.

» READ MORE: Visit our COVID tracker to see more data

Here’s a look at this week’s COVID numbers:

Daily average cases: 1,580

Case rate rise/fall over 14 days: +11%

Daily average hospitalizations: 1,760

Hospitalizations rate rise/fall over 14 days: +11%

Total deaths: 48,387

Daily average cases: 212

Case rate rise/fall over 14 days: +31%

Daily average hospitalizations: 363

Hospitalizations rate rise/fall over 14 days: +3%

Total deaths: 5,397 (as of Nov. 5)

Daily average cases: 2,323

Case rate rise/fall over 14 days: +40%

Daily average hospitalizations: 1,290

Hospitalizations rate rise/fall over 14 days: +25%

Total deaths: 35,205

Data Sources: New York Times COVID data tracker; New Jersey and Pennsylvania Departments of Health. Numbers are updated as of Wednesday, Dec. 7.

Staff writer Abraham Gutman contributed to this article.