January saw highest coronavirus hospitalization average

January saw the greatest number of COVID-19 fatalities and the highest average number of coronavirus hospitalizations of any month, according to the COVID Tracking Project.

An average of more than 120,000 people were hospitalized in the U.S. for coronavirus during the month of January, according to the COVID Tracking Project.

However, the tracking project noted on Twitter that the number of people currently hospitalized at the end of the month is over 37,000 less than its peak in the middle of the month. 

At least 95,211 people died from COVID-19 in the U.S. in January. December previously held the grim record of the most deaths reported in a month, with over 77,000 fatalities.

More than 6 million people in America tested positive for COVID-19 in January alone, down from the pandemic’s peak in December.  

But COVID-19 cases have seen a dip in many places across the country following a surge of infections driven by the holiday season. As of Sunday, the seven-day average number of new COVID-19 cases is over 40,000 fewer than at the beginning of January and over 100,000 fewer than at the month’s highest point on Jan. 12, according to the COVID Tracking Project.  

Over 26 million people in the U.S. have tested positive for COVID-19 in the U.S. in total, and the country has seen at least 441,300 fatalities.

Rochelle Walensky, the new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, predicted last week that the U.S. could reach between 479,000 to 514,000 deaths by Feb. 20.