A seasonal surge in respiratory illnesses has seen Covid numbers spike at the start of this year. 

Southcoast Health sent out a message the first week of January informing the South Coast community that it is "seeing rising levels of respiratory illnesses, including Covid-19 and flu, in our communities."

Due to this surge in illnesses, Southcoast updated its masking policy. As of Wednesday, Jan. 3, Southcoast Health providers and staff needed to wear surgical masks in clinical areas, and patients and visitors were strongly encouraged to do the same. 

Data from the CDC shows weekly new hospital admissions from Covid-19 in the state of Massachusetts peaked the week of Saturday, Dec. 30, with 1,084 new admissions. The following week, on Saturday, Jan. 6, that number had a slight decline to 1,016. 

This number is up from a low of 133 on July 8, 2023. 

The number of patients currently hospitalized with confirmed cases of Covid continues to rise, with 772 hospitalized patients as of Saturday, Dec. 30 and 873 hospitalized patients as of Saturday, Jan. 6

The same data shows an annual peak for Covid in January each year since the pandemic began, with this year's peak below each of the previous three years.