WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - According to modeling by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), COVID-19 infections are increasing or likely increasing in all 50 states. However, despite the rise in infections, the agency added that severe illness remains uncommon.
Nearly 4% of COVID-19 tests were positive last week, compared with more than 9% during the same week last year, according to CDC data.
'August is solidly Covid season,' Dr. Caitlin Rivers, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health and Security, told CNN Health. 'Right now, the South and the West are sort of the leading edge of this Covid season. In the past, it almost always starts in Florida, Texas and Georgia, which is exactly what we're seeing this year.'
The agency's Current Epidemic Trends model tracks whether COVID-19 infections are increasing, decreasing or staying about the same. The latest data suggest that the summer COVID wave, which began in parts of the South and West in July, has now spread across the country.
Forty-seven states are classified as 'Growing,' while New Hampshire, Rhode Island and the District of Columbia are listed as 'Likely Growing.' No state is currently classified as 'Not Changing,' 'Declining' or 'Likely Declining.'
In many states, the CDC estimates there is more than a 99% chance that COVID-19 infections are increasing. Hawaii and Mississippi are showing higher levels of virus activity. Both states have 'moderate' levels of COVID-19, although wastewater data from Mississippi is limited.
The South and West are currently seeing more COVID-19 activity than other parts of the country. Alabama, Alaska, California, Florida, Georgia, Oregon, Nevada, Texas and Washington have 'low' levels of the virus in wastewater, while most other states have 'very low' levels.
As of mid-August, no state is seeing a clear decline in cases. The CDC's August map is almost entirely red, showing that COVID-19 activity is increasing across much of the country.
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