Free Republic

Covid cases are on the rise again. Hospitalizations have spiked noticeably since the beginning of July. But doctors say we're far from a place of panic. There's also promising new protection on the horizon as a highly contagious new variant spreads. As North Texas prepares for the return to school and enjoys the last bit of summer, the CDC is keeping a close watch on those COVID cases. In the first hospitalization spike, we’ve seen this year, just over 8,000 hospital admissions were reported on July 22. That was up 12% compared to the prior week.

A new COVID-19 variant has been identified amid a rise in hospitalizations and cases being reported by the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC).COVID hospital admissions during the week ending Saturday, July 29, increased 12.5 percent over the previous week, according to CDC data.In addition, visits to the emergency room were up more than 21.8 percent, and the positive test percentage increased 1.3 percent.One of the causes of the trend could be excessive heat, which is sending people indoors into air-conditioned settings.The US has seen increases in COVID each of the last three summers, and this year's increases in...