US death toll, hospitalizations on the rise
The U.S. daily death average from COVID-19 is steadily rising, with an average of 1,550 new fatalities each day -- up by about 44% since Christmas, according to federal data.
This average is still significantly lower than last winter when the nation peaked at about 3,400 deaths per day.
Indiana now has the nation's highest death rate, followed by Delaware and Wyoming.
Nearly 146,000 Americans with COVID-19 are currently in hospitals -- a pandemic high -- according to new data from the Department of Health and Human Services.
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On average, more than 18,500 virus-positive Americans are being admitted to the hospital each day, a figure which has more than doubled over the last month. It's still not clear how many COVID-19-positive people in hospitals were admitted to the hospital for the virus or admitted for other reasons and coincidentally tested positive.
About 30% of hospitals (with available data) are facing critical staffing shortages.
-ABC News' Arielle Mitropoulos