COVID hospitalizations on the rise as U.S. enters Labor Day weekend

The U.S. is seeing a significant rise in COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations as it enters Labor Day weekend. 

According to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there were 15,067 new COVID patient hospitalizations for the week ending Aug. 19. That marked an 18.8% jump from the week before, and a staggering 86.9% increase over the past month. However, that is still down almost 61% compared to the same time last year. 

New COVID hospital admissions have increased for seven straight weeks and are expected to continue rising. The CDC said it expects anywhere from 1,700 to 9,700 daily COVID admissions by the end of September.