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A surge in travelers was recorded at Los Angeles International Airport following the July 4th holiday, marking a significant uptick in airport traffic.
Across the United States, a noticeable increase in coronavirus levels has been detected in wastewater, signaling a summer rise in COVID-19 cases. According to recent data from the U.S.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), national virus levels in sewage hit “high” for the first time this season. Currently, the growth of COVID-19 is either confirmed or suspected in 44 states, including Washington D.C.
California, in particular, has exhibited “very high” coronavirus levels in its wastewater as per CDC’s latest findings for the week ending on July 6. Alongside California, six other states—Arkansas, Florida, Maryland, Nevada, Oregon, and Texas—have reported similarly high levels. This trend spans 19 states across various regions of the country.
In northern California’s Santa Clara County, home to cities like San Jose and Palo Alto, sewage studies have shown high concentrations of the virus, surpassing measurements from the previous summer. Moreover, the rate of positive COVID-19 tests in California is nearing last summer’s peak; for the week ending July 8, 13% of tests were positive, closely approaching the 13.1% peak seen late last August and early September.
In Los Angeles County, the most populous in the nation, there has been a significant rise in coronavirus detected in wastewater. The local Department of Public Health has noted an uptick in COVID-19 cases, emergency room visits, and hospitalizations. With these numbers still rising, health officials are uncertain if this wave will exceed last summer’s severity.
According to the county health department, as of June 29, the concentration of the virus in sewage stood at 27% of last winter’s peak levels, which is a considerable increase from just a week prior. New daily COVID-19 cases in the county have also increased, reaching an average of 307 new cases a day compared to 121 a day a month ago, though still below last summer’s daily average peak of 571 cases.
Despite the increase, actual case counts may be underestimated since they do not account for at-home test results and fewer people may be testing when feeling ill. Tracking emergency room visits related to COVID-19, which rose from 1.5% a month ago to 2.5% of all visits for the week ending July 7, helps provide additional data on the trend.
The observed spike in cases this year began in May, earlier than the usual mid-year increases seen historically in July for Los Angeles County.
As cases continue to rise, health facilities like Kaiser Permanente Southern California are monitoring the situation closely. Dr. Elizabeth Hudson from Kaiser emphasized the gradual increase in cases and expressed a need to observe trends post-July 4th.
Nationally, health officials are responding to the surge. For instance, New York City’s health department recently recommended masking in crowded indoor spaces through social media campaigns.
Adding to concerns, the emergence of a more transmissible set of subvariants, collectively referred to as FLiRT, now make up an estimated 70.5% of the national COVID cases as per the latest two-week data ending July 6, showing a rapid spread compared to 54.9% a month earlier.
The CDC reports no states where the summer COVID-19 wave is declining, with only three states showing stable or uncertain trends. Data for several states including Missouri, Wisconsin, and Wyoming remain unavailable.
This summary was originally reported by the Los Angeles Times.