Mapped: COVID summer continues to heat up
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The summer's COVID-19 wave is continuing, with the latest wastewater surveillance data detecting "high" virus activity levels across the majority of the U.S. and "very high" levels in 19 states, per Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data.
Why it matters: The virus is especially prevalent across the western U.S. and the South, in particular a region that includes New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Louisiana, where test positivity topped 23%, per agency data.
- Test positivity is also elevated — to nearly 18% — in the region composed of California, Nevada and Arizona.
Between the lines: Almost 80% of circulating variants are KP variants, which are descendants of the highly contagious JN.1 strain that surged over the winter and are among the so-called FLiRT variants.
Threat level: COVID-19 cases have risen in the U.S. every summer since the pandemic began.
- Hospitalizations remain low. However, the virus still poses a risk to the elderly and immunocompromised.
- The FLiRT variants have been on the rise globally as well, sparking recent international health warnings for travelers headed to Greece, as well as Malta, Belgium and Ireland.
- It's also loomed over the Paris Olympics, with several athletes testing positive in the first few days of the games.
