CDC: COVID Levels Are ‘Very High’ in 19 US States

Another 17 states are seeing ‘high’ levels of the virus, according to the agency.

An electron microscope image shows SARS-CoV-2 (round gold objects), which causes COVID-19, emerging from cultured cells. NIAID via The Epoch Times

More than two-thirds of all U.S. states are experiencing “high” or “very high” levels of COVID-19, data published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show.

Nineteen states are seeing “very high” levels, according to a map of wastewater data published on July 26 by the CDC. Seventeen states are experiencing high levels, the data show.

States with very high levels of COVID-19, according to the CDC, include California, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Utah, New Mexico, Texas, Wyoming, Colorado, Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, Minnesota, Florida, South Carolina, Maryland, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire.

High levels of COVID-19 have been reported in Alaska, Hawaii, Montana, Oklahoma, Kansas, Wisconsin, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Delaware, Connecticut, and Maine, according to the agency.

Only one state—New York—is reporting “low” levels of COVID-19, the CDC map shows. All the other states are seeing “moderate” levels. No data were provided for Arizona, North Dakota, and U.S. territories, including the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and Puerto Rico.

“Nationally, the wastewater viral activity level for COVID-19 is currently high,” the CDC said in a separate webpage that was updated on July 24.

Despite the recent uptick in cases, historical data published by the CDC on a weekly basis show that the total U.S. deaths per week from COVID-19 are at their lowest levels since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020. For the week that ended on July 13, there were a total of 357 deaths from the virus, the data show.

During a previous increase in COVID-19 in the winter of 2023–24, about 2,000 deaths were being reported on a weekly basis. And in the winter of 2020–21, upward of 25,000 COVID-related deaths were tallied each week, according to the CDC data.

The upward trend in U.S. COVID-19 activity is primarily being caused by recent COVID-19 variants, KP.3, KP 3.1.1, KP.2, and LB.1, the CDC’s variant tracker page shows. Those variants make up more than 90 percent of reported infections.

Andy Pekosz, a molecular microbiology professor at Johns Hopkins University, said the KP.3 variant doesn’t appear to cause more severe symptoms. Antibodies provided through prior infection or vaccines have led to better outcomes in recent months, he said in an interview posted on the university’s website in May.

“You are contagious one to two days before you experience symptoms and a few days after symptoms subside. And as with previous variants, some people may have detectable live virus for up to a week after their symptoms begin, and some may experience rebound symptoms,” he said.

In June, CDC spokesman David Daigle told The Epoch Times that “there is currently no evidence that LB.1 causes more severe disease” and that “most key COVID-19 indicators are showing low levels of activity nationally, therefore the total number of infections this lineage may be causing is likely low.”

“CDC will continue to track SARS-CoV-2 variants and is working to better understand the potential impact on public health,” he said, referring to the virus that causes COVID-19.

An advisory panel for the Food and Drug Administration stated in June that vaccine makers should now target any COVID-19 variants that are derived from JN.1. Those vaccines should be rolled out in the fall of 2024, officials said.

Weeks later, CDC Director Mandy Cohen recommended updated COVID-19 and influenza vaccines.

“Our top recommendation for protecting yourself and your loved ones from respiratory illness is to get vaccinated,” she said in a statement.

Seasonal influenza activity remains low nationally for the week that ended on July 20, the CDC said in its weekly FluView report. It found that at least 187 deaths have been reported so far for the 2023–24 season.