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 1.1 in every 100,000 people were hospitalized for COVID-19 during the week ending February 14.
- COVID-19 test positivity decreased slightly, from 5.1% of COVID-19 tests returning positive results during the week ending February 7 to 4.7% positive during the week ending February 14.
- SARS-CoV-2 concentration in wastewater increased 15% between February 7 and February 14, and the national wastewater viral activity level is “moderate,” per the CDC.
- SARS-CoV-2 concentration in wastewater increased 1% between February 4 and February 11 and the national wastewater trend is “high,” per WastewaterSCAN.
- Healthcare visits for influenza-like illness decreased 2% between the week ending February 7 and the week ending February 14, and this metric remains at a high level.
The U.S.’s long winter of airborne virus spread continues. COVID-19 is still spreading at higher levels in some parts of the country, particularly in the Midwest, and may be increasing further in other regions. Flu remains at high levels, too, as the influenza B strain continues to rise.
Wastewater data from the CDC, WastewaterSCAN, and Biobot Analytics all show that the Midwest remains the biggest hotspot of this winter’s COVID-19 wave. WWSCAN and Biobot report further increases in this region in their most recent data, though these are preliminary numbers. The CDC’s test positivity data continues to report high COVID-19 levels in the Midwest, too.
The South has had lower COVID-19 levels for much of the winter, but wastewater data from all three dashboards have shown increases in this region in January and February. The CDC reported a particularly dramatic increase in this region for the week ending February 14, though it may be driven by states with limited testing sites (Mississippi, Alabama, West Virginia).
CDC wastewater data also indicate that COVID-19 levels may be going back up in parts of the Northeast. While WWSCAN and Biobot do not show this trend, the CDC’s test positivity data report a significant increase in the New York/New Jersey region in mid-February. Test positivity is trending up in the Northwest as well.
Modeling data from the CDC’s infectious disease forecasting center, which uses emergency department data for its estimates, similarly show these uneven patterns across regions. The center estimates cases are “growing or likely growing” in 12 states as of February 17, including states in the South, Midwest, Northwest, and Mid-Atlantic. Cases are “declining or likely declining” in seven states and “not changing” in 28 states, per the center.
Meanwhile, the flu still offers another reason to keep taking airborne disease precautions. National flu metrics remain at high levels; the influenza A strain is declining in circulation as the influenza B strain increases. States in the South, Midwest, and West Coast are reporting high to very high levels of flu-like illness, per the CDC. Children continue to be hard-hit by this flu season, with much higher emergency department visits than adults, and the CDC has reported 71 pediatric flu deaths so far this winter.
Last week, the Trump administration named infamous COVID-19 minimizer Jay Bhattacharya as the new interim director of the CDC — both making him the agency’s fourth leader in under a year, and adding to his existing role as director of the National Institutes of Health. “It seems the one qualification for this job is rubber-stamping RFK Jr’s agenda,” which Bhattacharya “has already proven himself very capable of doing,” infectious disease researcher Mallory Harris told The Guardian.
