4,734 patients were recorded as having caught Covid-19 in-house.
Hospitals reported around 2,000 patients each week had contracted Covid during their stay, compared to roughly 3,000 this year, during the January Covid-19 surge a year ago.
The total number of people who contract Covid-19 while in the hospital remains unclear because these figures only count patients who were in the hospital at least 14 consecutive days and don't account for people who test positive after leaving. The government's figures are likely to be a small part of the total.
Hospital-acquired infections are one of the most serious risks for patients, especially those who stay for weeks or months. The recent data shows that hospitals still have a long way to go to prevent transmission within their walls.
The University of Minnesota has an epidemiologist who is concerned by the rise in infections.
Hospitals aren't doing enough to prevent transmission, so visitors and staff are allowed to wear surgical masks. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention doesn't recommend that all health care workers wear N-95s.
Three officials told POLITICO that the U.S. health officials haven't decided whether to suggest hospitals change their infection control measures. Two of the officials who were granted anonymity because they weren't authorized to speak publicly about internal discussions said the figures are preliminary and the CDC is investigating what caused the increase.
The CDC's decision in December to allow health workers who had tested positive for Covid to return without first isolating or testing to ensure they were no longer infectious is one possible factor. Several public health experts said that the decision likely had minimal impact because workers wear masks.
A CDC spokesman wouldn't say if the agency's decision played a role. It isn't known what other factors might have influenced the increase.
Kathleen Gallagher, an epidemiologist at the National Patient Advocate Foundation, said that a hospital is a subset of the population.
At the time, home tests were scarce, lines were hours long for in-office testing, and other changes were going on.
POLITICO's analysis of the data shows the number of patients who catch Covid at hospitals. When cases across the country were lower, so were cases of hospital transmission.
The chance of catching Covid-19 at a hospital is low despite the January spike.
In North Carolina, 1.6 percent of patients got infections with Covid-19 in December of last year, according to a state health department spokesman. The percentage went up to 2.2 percent in January. The number of patients who acquired infections at the hospital in December was 25 per day, compared to 96 in January.
Shama Cash-Goldwasser is a senior technical adviser at Resolve to Save Lives, a group run by former CDC director Tom Frieden that aims to prevent epidemics.
The figures do not say which hospitals accounted for the most transmission. Per-hospital numbers are not released by the Department of Health and Human Services. The figures are compiled as part of a daily survey of hospitals reporting how the Pandemic affects their operations.
The number of patients who contract Covid-19 in-house could be changed in the U.S., which could set off concerns from hospital lobbyists and associations.
POLITICO reported that the change would make it easier to see how many patients are suspected to have contracted Covid-19 at hospitals. The discussions might not result in any changes.
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