As nationwide cases of COVID-19 continue to soar to unprecedented levels, according to the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention data tracker, experts say that the likelihood of surviving the disease if you are hospitalized is getting worse every day. A new study found that when communities had large numbers of COVID-19 cases, hospitals were more apt to be stressed and overburdened, causing mortality rates for hospitalized patients to rise.

According to USA Today, study authors Drs. David Asch and Rachel Werner of the University of Pennsylvania, found that 11.8% of adults hospitalized with COVID-19 died within 30 days. “That is nearly four times higher than your likelihood of dying if you’re hospitalized with influenza, which is closer to 3%,” said the researchers.

The good news is that earlier this year, before doctors had more experience in dealing with the disease, the mortality rate was 17%. Thanks to new treatments and drugs, hospitals are better equipped to handle COVID-19.

But, the experts cautioned, during a surge of COVID-19 cases, your chances of dying increase because hospitals become strained when there are high rates of the virus in their communities.

“The number of people now hospitalized with COVID-19 has nearly quadrupled from its low in September,” Asch and Werner told USA Today. “Hospitals are buckling under that strain, with shortages of staff, supplies, and hospital beds.”

According to The New York Times, the nation’s hospitals have been slammed with a staggering number of patients with no available beds and a dire shortage of doctors and nurses. This has also led to a dangerous increase in the number of hospitals that have had to turn away emergency or urgent care patients.

These factors have led to increased mortality rates for COVID-19 patients, potentially obliterating the gain we have made in reducing the number of deaths, the authors predict. Their recommendation is to “double down on the measures that protect us from getting and transmitting the disease — mask up, stay home, wash our hands.”

They urge that all Americans do their part to keep communities safe and the number of cases down so that if you do get COVID-19, “you have a better chance of surviving.”