New hospital admissions of patients with COVID-19 are on the rise in the U.S., topping 31,000 over a seven-day average ending July 11, CDC data shows.

Why it matters: We don't know how many cases are individuals admitted for COVID versus those hospitalized for other conditions who happen to have COVID. But with many COVID cases being detected through home testing, experts have increasingly pointed to hospitalizations as an important metric for understanding what's happening at a community level, Insider reports.

By the numbers: Hospitalizations from the BA.5 subvariant of Omicron circulating in the U.S. are about 78% lower than their peaks in January, and deaths remain relatively low. But hospitalizations are on the rise, up 11% over a seven-day period.

• The CDC is forecasting the number of new daily confirmed COVID-19 hospital admissions will increase, with 3,200 to 13,800 likely to be reported on Aug. 5.
• Hospitalizations were up the most in HHS region 6, which includes Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico and Oklahoma (21.5%), followed by region 7 (15.3%) which includes Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska.