Map Shows States Where COVID Is Rising
Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content.
COVID-19 cases are reported to be rising in 27 states and "likely growing" in 12 states more as well as in Washington D.C., according to the latest data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The national health body warned that COVID-19 infections are estimated to be "growing or likely growing in 40 states [including D.C.], declining or likely declining in zero states, and not changing in nine states," as of July 29.
"COVID-19 activity is increasing in many Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, Southern, and West Coast states," the CDC said on August 1.
The percentage of positive cases is increasing nationally and while emergency department visits for COVID-19 are low, these visits are rising among all ages.
"The current rise in COVID-19 cases is likely multifactorial," Dr. Steven Goldberg, primary care/urgent care physician and chief medical officer at HealthTrackRx—a PCR testing company that works with the CDC to help create fast testing for viruses including COVID-19— told Newsweek.
He explained: "Increased summer travel, indoor gatherings due to high temperatures, waning vaccine immunity and the emergence of immune-evasive Omicron subvariants like KP.3 and LB.1 all play a role."
"Wastewater surveillance, along with anecdotal reports of increased COVID-19–related ER and urgent care visits, corroborate this increase," Goldberg said.
"Notably, real-time transmission estimates (Rt) show values above 1 in most states, indicating active spread."
(Rt—the "effective reproduction number"—is an estimate of the average number of new infections caused by each infectious person.)
The states with rising cases are each reported to have a more than 90 percent probability that the "COVID-19 epidemic is growing" there. The states with some of the highest probabilities include Florida (99.92 percent), Massachusetts (99.68 percent), Texas (99.52 percent) and Maryland (98.95 percent.)
While the current summer wave of cases is less severe than previous peaks, "this surge may intensify further in the fall with back-to-school and return-to-office patterns unless mitigated by vaccine uptake and public awareness," Goldberg warned.
The nine states where cases remain unchanged in recent days include Alaska, Hawaii, Idaho, Maine, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Rhode Island and Vermont. The percent of emergency department visits in these states was reported to be either low or very low, according to the CDC.
According to Goldberg, several factors may explain the plateau in these nine states, including lower population density, such as in Montana and Alaska, as well limited large-scale indoor gatherings, and higher vaccine booster uptake.
"It's also possible that regional Rt estimates are slightly lagging and may rise in future updates," he noted.
The physician says updated vaccines targeting the latest Omicron sublineages, which are expected to emerge in the fall this year, are "essential" for combating rising cases and new variants.
He said: "These next-generation vaccines are designed to enhance protection against immune-evasive strains like the Omicron-subvariants KP.3 and LB.1."
Goldberg says that while reinstating broad health mandates may not be necessary at this stage, "targeted recommendations are prudent," noting that supporting voluntary masking in healthcare settings, airports, and high-risk indoor gatherings can help reduce transmission. He advises encouraging vaccination, especially for people at high risk as well as those living with high-risk individuals.
Newsweek has contacted the CDC for comment via email and its online media contact form.
Do you have a tip on a health story that Newsweek should be covering? Do you have a question about COVID-19? Let us know via health@newsweek.com.
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