
The U.S. continues to be in a lull of moderate COVID-19 spread between the summer and winter surges. While disease levels may be somewhat lower than this time last year (according to wastewater surveillance), they are still much higher than the true periods of low spread we experienced in 2020 and 2021.

The U.S.’s summer COVID-19 surge continues to slowly wane. While wastewater and healthcare system data have reported declines over the last couple of weeks, disease levels remain high across the U.S. — though you might not know it from looking at the CDC’s viral activity levels map, recently updated to an even more minimizing color…

As governments have scaled back their tracking of Covid-19 — even as the pandemic continues — many people who still take precautions have increasingly relied on wastewater surveillance to follow disease trends. But wastewater data can be confusing and inconsistent, especially as surveillance programs change over time.

The U.S. is well into our summer Covid-19 surge: even the CDC’s wastewater dashboard now acknowledges that the country is facing high coronavirus activity. Yet most travel and gatherings continue without any precautions, making it easier for the latest variants to spread.

California and nearby West Coast states continue to bear the brunt of this summer’s Covid-19 surge so far, with high wastewater levels and increasing burden on the healthcare system. Data signals are mixed for other parts of the country as newer variants continue to spread.

Following the same trends from recent weeks, the U.S.’s expected summer Covid-19 wave continues to rise. According to wastewater surveillance and our limited healthcare system data, infections are rising quickly in California and other West Coast states, and progressing more slowly (but still increasing) in other regions.

Following last week’s trends, U.S. Covid-19 metrics continue to indicate that we may be at the beginning of a summer surge, thanks to our lack of collective safety measures combined with the latest variants. Unfortunately, the U.S. just lost another Covid-19 metric, as wastewater surveillance company Biobot Analytics announced that it is shutting down its…

Covid-19 levels continue to be on the lower side across the U.S., as the country is in a lull between surges. But mild metrics from the CDC hide the fact that even during a lull, thousands of people are getting sick daily. And new variants are on the horizon, leading some scientists to warn of…

In the last few weeks, I (Betsy) have received a few questions about the national Covid-19 updates that we’ve been publishing every week at The Sick Times. Readers have been particularly interested in how I reference wastewater surveillance, a newer technology for tracking viruses and other health indicators that became prominent during the pandemic.

All available Covid-19 data in the U.S. suggest that the country is at the high point of an intense winter surge. The JN.1 variant, the latest fast-spreading offshoot of Omicron, has intensified the spread from holiday travel and gatherings. Hospitalizations are currently following similar trends to last winter, but could rise more in the coming…





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