(AP) – COVID-19 hospital admissions are inching upward in the United States since early July. It’s a small-scale echo of the three previous summers. Just over 9,000 people were admitted to the hospital in the week ending July 29, which was up by about 12% from the previous week. But the number of new hospital patients is still far lower than during summer peaks in the previous three years. Deaths appear to be stable. U.S. health officials say they’ll keep a close eye on wastewater levels as students go back to school. The amount of the virus in wastewater across the nation has been rising since late June.