The United States is seeing its biggest increase in coronavirus cases since January.
To help public health experts stop the spread of the disease, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continues to test wastewater to serve as an early warning system for the spread of the disease.
Wastewater sample data shows a notable increase in local trends for COVID-19. The KP.3.1.1 variant now accounts for approximately 37% of cases, followed by its related strain, KP.3, at 17%, according to CDC data. Thirty-two states across the country are reporting “very high” levels of wastewater virus activity, according to data collected by the CDC over the weekend.
COVID-19 wastewater monitoring by region
Even if local residents don’t show symptoms, wastewater can still be tested for infectious diseases, and CDC data can detect changes in disease levels in a community.
Certain regions have been affected more severely than others, with the Western states reporting the most cases, followed by the South.
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States face surge in coronavirus cases as summer ends
The CDC projects COVID-19 cases will increase or likely increase in 25 states, decrease or likely decrease in five states, and remain stable in 17 states.
“At this point, we can say that COVID-19 is endemic around the world,” Alon Hall, deputy director for science in the CDC’s division of coronaviruses and other respiratory viruses, told NPR in an interview.
CDC’s state-by-state COVID-19 spread projections:
When does a disease become endemic, epidemic, or pandemic?
According to the CDC, the disease is defined as:
Read more: CDC says some US states have ‘very high’ levels of COVID activity: See latest data
New and potent COVID-19 variant “FLirT” emerges
The COVID-19 virus continues to be a notorious shape-shifter.
There are currently over 26 variants of the original strain of COVID-19. The newest variant, FLirT, includes KP.3, KP.3.1.1, and KP.2. Since early spring, these strains have been the fastest growing of the omicron subvariants circulating in all regions of the United States.
Symptoms of COVID-19
Possible symptoms include:
Symptoms of the FLirT variant are generally milder than previous variants in the pandemic, including fever, cough, fatigue, and loss of smell and taste, according to Johns Hopkins University. Symptoms can range in severity from mild to severe and can appear two to 14 days after exposure to the virus, according to the CDC website.
Contributors: Ajane Forbes and George Petras
Sources: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Johns Hopkins University, USA Today investigation
