The traditional respiratory virus season hasn’t started, but Covid is already climbing - CNN
Despite it not being the traditional respiratory virus season, Covid-19 cases are rising across the United States. Health experts note that while hospitalizations remain low, the virus is now exhibiting a distinct summer wave pattern.
Why it matters
Understanding the shift in Covid-19 seasonality is essential for public health preparedness and individual risk management as federal data collection becomes more limited.
Are you coughing, hacking or feeling feverish? It may not be just a summer cold; you might want to consider taking a Covid test. Although the autumn respiratory illness season hasn’t kicked off, and flu and RSV activity remain low, there’s a growing summer wave of Covid-19. Case numbers aren’t especially high, and the United States isn’t recording many hospitalizations or deaths. But data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention puts the test positivity rate for the week ending August 8 above 3% for the first time since March, with numbers climbing in every state. “August is solidly Covid season,” said Dr. Caitlin Rivers, an expert in outbreak science and senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health and Security. “Right now, the South and the West are sort of the leading edge of this Covid season.
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