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New increases are expected for the next month, the agency is now projecting.
The news comes as the CDC and World Health Organization (WHO) are monitoring the newly identified BA.2.86 strain, now known as Pirola, which has around 30 mutations.
The second figure above shows the number of daily COVID hospitalizations in the US each day from Thursday, June 13 through Friday, Aug. 11, and forecasted daily COVID-19 hospital admissions over the next four weeks, through Monday, Sept. 18.
In a Risk Assessment Statement issued on Wednesday, Aug. 23, the CDC said that based on what it now knows existing tests used to detect and medications used to treat COVID appear to be effective with the Pirola variant.
"BA.2.86 may be more capable of causing infection in people who have previously had COVID-19 or who have received COVID-19 vaccines," the CDC said. "Scientists are evaluating the effectiveness of the forthcoming, updated COVID-19 vaccine.
"CDC’s current assessment is that this updated vaccine will be effective at reducing severe disease and hospitalization.
"At this point, there is no evidence that this variant is causing more severe illness.
"That assessment may change as additional scientific data are developed. CDC will share more as we know more."
The Pirola strain was first detected in Israel, and cases have also been identified in several other countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, and Denmark.
The CDC said it's also tracking the new strain.
The WHO says a "variant under monitoring" has genetic changes that could affect characteristics like transmissibility but that "limited evidence makes its impact unclear."
Currently, a new Omicron subvariant known as Eris, whose official name is EG.5, is accounting for most COVID cases nationwide, just ahead of the XBB.1.16 strain known as Arcturus, according to estimates by the CDC.
Arcturus is also an offshoot of the highly-contagious Omicron strain.
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