United States: The cases linked to COVID-19 infection have been witnessing an upsurge in almost every state of the United States. According to the latest data shared by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the infection has spread up to around 45 states.
Reportedly, out of the total infected states, 26 reported a “very high” or “high” COVID influence.
States with “very high” activity!
The Centers for Disease Control has outlined that in western parts such as California, Nevada, Oregon and Texas and the stated in eastern region including Arkansas, Florida and Maryland have reported “very high” cases. The concerns are high across these states because of increased wastewater levels over the past few months.
Along with this, the cases are “moderate” in Massachusetts and the numbers have dropped in between June 29 and July 6 – when the wastewater contamination also decreased. High COVID-19 levels were reported in Connecticut, New Hampshire and Maine; however low rate of infection was noticed in Rhode Island.
It is to be noted that none of the US states have witnessed a decline in the cases. The federal health agency has also underlined that the average emergency room visits have skyrocketed and are highest since February, despite hospital admissions and ER visits remaining low.
States are experiencing what the CDC refers to as potential for epidemic growth, where estimated values above one indicate such growth. Massachusetts is currently witnessing an increase in its epidemic status, with a rate of 0.9965, just below the threshold indicating growth.
KP.2 and KP.3 variants of COVID-19!
The total number of COVID-19 cases have been dominated by the omicron strains of the virus, including KP.3 and KP.2 – which are the part of FLiRT family of strains. It is to be noted that approximately 18 percent to 31 percent of the COVID-19 cases are due to KP.3 variant and KP.2 variant is responsible for 17 percent to 30 percent of the cases, according to the official stats by COVID-19 tracking data by CDC.
After noticing the surge in the cases, the Food and Drug Administration of the United States has asked the drug manufacturers to develop a COVID-19 booster, especially focusing KP.2 strain.
New Symptoms of COVID-19 variants!
According to various researchers, the FLiRT variant of COVID-19 shows some symptoms which resemble those shown by JN.1. The symptoms are:
Cough
Congestion
Diarrhea
Fatigue
Fever or chills
Headache
Loss of sense of taste or smell
Muscle aches
Nausea or vomiting
Runny nose
Sore throat
Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing