The most recent wastewater data published by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) show that COVID-19 levels are “very high” in about a half-dozen states and at “high” levels in even more.
As of the agency’s most recent update, about 26 states are currently seeing “high” or “very high” levels of COVID-19 activity in wastewater. Other agency metrics show that the virus is on the rise across the United States, including the number of emergency room visits and hospitalizations.
WastewaterSCAN, a private organization that tracks wastewater, shows that COVID-19 is currently at a “high” level across the U.S.
However, despite the latest figures, the current increase in COVID-19 activity is nowhere near the levels seen in the early days of the pandemic or even last year, according to historical data published by the CDC.
As of the week ending June 29 6, 2024, 259 deaths were recorded across the United States. In comparison, there were thousands of deaths reported each week during earlier peaks of COVID-19, since March 2020, according to the agency.
Notably, the White House on Wednesday evening said President Joe Biden tested positive for COVID-19 with mild symptoms and will now be isolating at his home in Delaware. A scheduled speech in Las Vegas, Nevada, was canceled.
Nevada was among the states classified by the CDC as having “very high” levels of COVID-19 activity. Other states with very high levels include Oregon, California, Texas, Arkansas, Maryland, and Florida, the CDC’s map shows.
States with “high” levels include Alaska, Hawaii, Pennsylvania, Idaho, Washington state, Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Louisiana, Missouri, Minnesota, Tennessee, Virginia, South Carolina, Alabama, Connecticut, and Maine, according to the CDC. President Biden’s home state of Delaware is seeing “moderate” levels.
The president, who is 81, is considered in the age group that federal officials consider at the highest risk of developing severe disease from COVID-19.
The White House confirmed that President Biden started taking Paxlovid, an antiviral drug made by Pfizer that specifically targets COVID-19. He received an updated booster vaccine last year, officials said at the time.
Dr. Kevin O’Connor, the president’s physician, said in a note that the president “presented this afternoon with upper respiratory symptoms, to include rhinorrhea (runny nose) and non-productive cough, with general malaise.” After the positive COVID-19 test, President Biden was given his first dose of Paxlovid, he said.
President Biden was slated to speak at the UnidosUS event in Las Vegas Wednesday afternoon as part of an effort to rally Hispanic voters ahead of the November election. Instead, he departed for the airport to fly to Delaware, where he had already been planning to spend a long weekend at his home in Rehoboth Beach, the White House said.
The president last tested positive for COVID-19 in the summer of 2022, when he had a primary case and a rebound case of the virus several weeks later. At the time, he was also prescribed Paxlovid.
The CDC has recommended that adults of all ages and children aged six months and older receive the most updated vaccine, although a number of studies published over the years have called into question the effectiveness of the vaccines and boosters.
The ongoing COVID-19 uptick is occurring alongside increases of two KP variants and the related LB.1, in which all three accounted for about 85 percent of new cases as of early July, the CDC said.
Late last month, a CDC spokesperson David Daigle told The Epoch Times that the LB.1 variant “has the potential to infect some people more easily based on a single deletion in a spike protein” but stressed “there is currently no evidence that LB.1 causes more severe disease.”
At the time, Mr. Daigle said COVID-19-associated hospitalizations and deaths remain low.
