Post by Nadica (She/Her) on Sept 15, 2024 0:12:28 GMT
US COVID activity remains elevated, though some markers decline - Published Sept 13, 2024
By Lisa Schnirring
COVID-19 activity stayed elevated across the United States last week, with wastewater SARS-CoV-2 detections highest in the West, where levels are trending upward again, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today in its latest weekly data updates.
Other indicators, however, showed small declines, including test positivity, which was at 14.9% last week, down 1.6% from the previous week. Levels are highest in the central states, which include Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska. Emergency department visits declined last week but are still at the moderate level in a few southeastern states.
Hospitalizations highest in seniors, youngest kids
Hospitalization levels for COVID are still elevated but have been declining since early August. The CDC said the highest levels are in seniors and in children younger than 2 years old.
Deaths declined 8% compared to the previous week, and fatalities from COVID currently make up 2.3% of all deaths. The CDC received reports of 534 COVID deaths last week, based on provisional data. During the preceding week, 954 deaths were reported.
WastewaterSCAN, a national wastewater monitoring system based at Stanford University in partnership with Emory University, said yesterday that SARS-CoV-2 detections are still at the high level nationally, with no clear trend over the past 3 weeks. It noted that the South and the Midwest are in the medium category.
Also today, the CDC released its latest variant projections, which show another steady rise in KP.3.1.1 proportions. The Omicron subvariant now makes up 52.7% of sequenced samples, up from 40% 2 weeks earlier.
By Lisa Schnirring
COVID-19 activity stayed elevated across the United States last week, with wastewater SARS-CoV-2 detections highest in the West, where levels are trending upward again, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said today in its latest weekly data updates.
Other indicators, however, showed small declines, including test positivity, which was at 14.9% last week, down 1.6% from the previous week. Levels are highest in the central states, which include Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska. Emergency department visits declined last week but are still at the moderate level in a few southeastern states.
Hospitalizations highest in seniors, youngest kids
Hospitalization levels for COVID are still elevated but have been declining since early August. The CDC said the highest levels are in seniors and in children younger than 2 years old.
Deaths declined 8% compared to the previous week, and fatalities from COVID currently make up 2.3% of all deaths. The CDC received reports of 534 COVID deaths last week, based on provisional data. During the preceding week, 954 deaths were reported.
WastewaterSCAN, a national wastewater monitoring system based at Stanford University in partnership with Emory University, said yesterday that SARS-CoV-2 detections are still at the high level nationally, with no clear trend over the past 3 weeks. It noted that the South and the Midwest are in the medium category.
Also today, the CDC released its latest variant projections, which show another steady rise in KP.3.1.1 proportions. The Omicron subvariant now makes up 52.7% of sequenced samples, up from 40% 2 weeks earlier.