COVID-19 hasn’t gone away, and data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggests it’s on the upswing around the country.
“We’ve seen these summer increases every summer that COVID-19 has been with us,” said Dr. Amesh Adalja, a Johns Hopkins University infectious disease physician. “What’s different about these cases this summer vs. prior summers is that they don’t translate into hospitals in crisis.”
Adalja said factors in the seasonal increase could be increased travel, people staying indoors to avoid summer heat and the virus’ continued evolution — which could help it get around people’s immunity.
Testing for COVID-19 is sporadic and the true number of cases isn’t clear because many infections aren’t reported. But one way to spot trends is to see what percentage of lab tests come back positive. By that metric, COVID-19 is surging, with nearly 15% of tests coming back positive vs. less than 1% for flu.
Nevertheless, doctors’ offices aren’t seeing an outsized share of people with symptoms of respiratory illness. The proportion of doctor visits for flu-like symptoms remains low.