Here are the latest national COVID-19 trends, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and major wastewater surveillance providers:
- About 4 in every 100,000 people were hospitalized for COVID-19 during the week ending August 3. (Note that these are provisional data.)
- COVID-19 test positivity has increased 1%, from 17.9% of COVID-19 tests returning positive results during the week ending August 3 to 18.1% of tests during the week ending August 10.
- SARS-CoV-2 concentration in wastewater has increased 6% between the week ending August 3 and the week ending August 10, and the national wastewater viral activity level is “very high,” per the CDC.
- SARS-CoV-2 concentration in wastewater has increased 9% between the week of August 5 and the week of August 12, per Biobot Analytics.
- SARS-CoV-2 concentration in wastewater has decreased 2% between July 31 and August 7, per WastewaterSCAN.
This summer’s COVID-19 surge just keeps going. Disease levels remain very high and increasing across much of the U.S., according to wastewater surveillance and our limited healthcare system data. Meanwhile, mpox (formerly called monkeypox) has reemerged as a global health threat.
Wastewater data from the CDC, Biobot Analytics, and WastewaterSCAN continue to show incredibly high disease levels across the U.S. Almost all states report “very high” or “high” SARS-CoV-2 levels in wastewater, per the CDC; and remember that the CDC’s levels already start with high baselines.
This summer’s surge has likely led to more infections than last summer’s and may be even higher than this past winter’s for the West Coast and South, according to the wastewater indicators. While we can’t calculate exact case numbers, the wastewater data are reliable enough for me to confidently say things are very bad. (To learn more about wastewater data, come to our webinar tomorrow with WastewaterSCAN!)
Disease levels may be reaching peaks for parts of the South and Midwest, according to the CDC and WastewaterSCAN’s regional wastewater data, as well as test positivity and emergency department visits. Modeling estimates from the CDC’s disease forecasting center suggest that COVID-19 cases are “likely declining” in Florida, Louisiana, Alaska, Hawaii, and New York state. Cases are stable or growing in the rest of the country.
School has already started for the fall in many districts, which will inevitably lead to new outbreaks. One high school in Montgomery, Alabama already announced that it would transition to remote classes for at least two days due to a COVID-19 outbreak. Some reports suggest the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) may approve this fall’s COVID-19 vaccines early, as the U.S. government continues to take a vaccine-only strategy to this airborne, multisystemic disease.
While COVID-19 spreads unabated in the U.S. and globally, mpox is a renewed threat. Last week, both the World Health Organization and Africa CDC declared public health emergencies in response to outbreaks in four African countries that have not previously reported mpox cases. The current outbreaks are driven by a different strain of mpox than the one that spread globally in 2022. Still, health officials in the U.S. recommend mpox vaccination for anyone who may be at risk. (If you got one dose in 2022, get your second now!)
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