U.S. COVID-19 Cumulative Hospitalization Estimates by Week

Weekly preliminary estimates of cumulative U.S. COVID-19 hospitalizations since the start of the 2024 respiratory season, provided by the CDC's COVID-NET surveillance system. The data includes lower and upper bound estimates for each week and is updated weekly as new hospitalizations are reported. Estimates are based on laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infections and are subject to revision.

Use Cases

• Analyze weekly trends in cumulative hospitalizations using the Date and Burden columns.
• Model the uncertainty range of hospitalization estimates using the Low and High columns.
• Track seasonal progression of COVID-19 hospitalizations using the Season and Date columns.
• Compare estimated burden across different respiratory seasons using the Season and Burden columns.

Strengths

• Data is updated weekly, providing near-real-time surveillance.
• Includes uncertainty estimates via Low and High columns for each data point.
• Methodology is documented in peer-reviewed publications referenced in the description.

Limitations

• Data are preliminary and subject to change with delayed reporting.
• Row count and total data size are unknown, limiting suitability assessment.
• Description metadata is limited; actual data quality requires manual inspection after download.

Provenance

Source

data.cdc.gov, sourced from the COVID-NET surveillance system.

Collection Method

Estimates derived from reported weekly hospitalizations of laboratory-confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infections.

Time Range

Since the start of the 2024 respiratory season.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-04-03 15:58:07; updated weekly.

Geography

United States.