COVID activity continues to increase across much of the United States, with an upward trend in all regions, but with some regional differences, according to the latest updates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The brisk pace of infections comes amid ongoing shifts towards more immune evasive SARS-CoV-2 variants and waning immunity from earlier infections and vaccination. In its latest variant proportion update, the CDC said the percentage of KP.3.1.1 sequences jumped from 14.4% to 27.8% over the past 2 weeks. The variant is cutting into the proportion of its parent variant KP.3, which currently makes up 21.1% of sequences.
Nationally, test positivity is 16.3%, up slightly from the previous week. Levels are highest in Texas and surrounding states, averaging 25.7%, followed by the Southeast, the Midwest, and the Northwest.Â
ED visits highest in parts of South
Emergency department visits for COVID make up only 2.2% of visits, but rose 12.1% in the most recent reporting week. The highest levels—all in the moderate range— were in Texas, Louisiana, Florida, and Hawaii.
Hospitalization levels remain elevated, especially in seniors, the CDC said.Â
Deaths from COVID were up 25% compared to the previous week, but overall, COVID is responsible for only 1.5% of all deaths.Â
Wastewater levels high, with regional variations
CDC wastewater tracking shows that SARS-CoV-2 detections remain at the high level. The highest levels in the current surge have been in the West, but detections continue to rise steadily in all US regions, most sharply in the South. At the end of July, detections in the West dipped slightly but are now on the rise again.
The latest data from WastewaterSCAN, a national wastewater monitoring system based at Stanford University in partnership with Emory University, show that SARS-CoV-2 levels are at the high level nationally, with an upward trend over the past 3 weeks. However, it added that it saw no significant up or down trend in the Northeast and West.
