WASHINGTON - More than 100,000 people are hospitalized with COVID-19 in the United States, a level not seen since Jan 30, The Washington Post reported on Thursday.

Hospitalizations are the highest across the South, where every state in the region has a higher portion of its population currently hospitalized with COVID-19 than the national level, said the US newspaper.

More than 17,000 people are hospitalized with COVID-19 in Florida, the highest among all US states, followed by Texas with 14,000, the daily said.

Amid a raging debate over mask requirements in schools, current pediatric hospitalizations for COVID-19 have reached 2,100 nationwide, topping 2,000 for the first time since August 2020, it said.

According to the report, new COVID-19 cases were being reported across the country at similar levels in January.

However, even as many hospitals are under strain and report shortages of intensive care unit beds, overall deaths are far lower; the daily average of deaths at the end of January was 3,100 and about 1,100 as of Wednesday, said the report.