We need to talk about how Covid-19 activity has recently skyrocketed across the United States. New data today from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirm wastewater samples are starting to capture a national trend from “low” to “moderate” levels of Covid-19. This major jump is emblematic of a larger movement. Covid-19 infections are climbing in 45 states—including all of the Midwest—an increase from just 40 states reported one week prior.
The western region of the country is particularly affected, with states such as Alaska, California, Colorado, Nevada, and Utah classified as experiencing “high” levels of Covid-19 activity. Meanwhile, in California, fall infection numbers quickly skyrocketed over last winter’s peaks. This very concerning development is based on recent evidence gathered through California Department of Public Health’s sewer surveillance.
The CDC has been watching these trends with hawk-like vigilance. By the end of June, they observed that Covid-19 represented as much as 14% of all cases. A new variant, first detected in Cambodia in January, has fueled this recent increase. It was out of the picture in the U.S. for most of this year – nearly five months – through May.
As of this writing, the CDC is still openly publishing estimates of current Covid-19 infections through its Covid Data Tracker. It’s still quite uncertain how bad that late-summer wave could be. The World Health Organization has warned that infections are rising again, but it remains uncertain to what extent this wave will grow.
“We now know that there’s a winter spike and then there’s a summer spike.” – Jon LaPook
There’s good news brewing just over the horizon. The CDC has found that Covid-19 deaths and hospitalizations have steadily decreased every single season.
“And every year, the number of deaths, the number of hospitalizations, is gradually going down each season. So that’s the good news.” – Jon LaPook
Challenges remain. Recent actions taken under the Trump administration to impose vaccine restrictions threaten to increase the risk posed by the surge of rising Covid-19 cases. Leading paint experts have been ringing alarm bells over the current data, pointing to a demonstrable surge in infections. They stress the importance of closely monitoring the emerging situation to understand the full impact.