CDC Says ‘Very High’ COVID-19 Levels Reported in 31 States

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said that COVID-19 levels across the United States are currently “very high” in more than half of states, with Omicron variants KP.3 and KP.3.1.1 accounting for about half of all cases.

Citing wastewater data as of Aug. 15, the CDC said that “very high” COVID-19 levels are being observed in 32 states as well as Washington, D.C., and “high” in 11 states. All the states along the West Coast and the Mountain states are in the “very high” range, according to the CDC.

A separate CDC dashboard shows that, for the week ending Aug. 10, COVID-19 emergency department visits were slightly down from 2.5 to 2.4 percent while hospitalizations were slightly up at 3.3 percent from 3.2 percent. During a previous increase in cases in December 2023, emergency department visits peaked at 3.4 percent, according to CDC data.

COVID-related deaths, according to the same CDC data, have been at record low levels for the past three months or so. For the week ending Aug. 3, there were 618 deaths recorded across the country, far lower than the 2,000 or so deaths that were reported every week for the winter 2023-2024 when there was the last nationwide increase in COVID-19.

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