The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says wastewater detection of COVID-19 is high or very high in eight states, but whether that means a summer surge in cases remains to be seen.
A member of the FLiRT family of COVID variants called KP.3 is the dominant variant in the U.S., accounting for 25% of cases in the CDC’s most recent count.
The CDC says that while emergency department visits for COVID went up 12.6% in one week, the coronavirus accounts for only 0.6% of both hospitalizations and deaths.
Summer surges
Since the pandemic began, there have been summer surges of COVID that, while smaller than winter peaks, upset vacation plans and even kill medically frail individuals.
“We sort of gear up in the summer for more gatherings,” including graduations, says Neil Maniar, director of Northeastern’s master of public health program.
