As COVID-19 cases in the United States amid FLiRT variants, a new map from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows which states have been hit the hardest.
Data shows that four southern states and one southwestern state are experiencing infection rates. In the sixth region, adding Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas, 23. 5% of COVID tests were positive, an increase of 7. 3 percent from the previous week.
The total number of new COVID cases in the United States rose 1. 3 percentage points over the past week, from 13% to 14. 3%. Knowledge excluded at-home testing.
The CDC map allows comparisons of infection rates in other regions, and knowledge is now averaged across administrative spaces rather than reported across individual states.
Region Nine reported the current rate of new infections at 17. 8 percent. This region includes Arizona, California, Hawaii and Nevada.
With the exception of the Fourth Region, all seven regions reported an infection rate above 10 percent.
The fourth region, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee, recorded the lowest rate of new infections at 9. 7 percent.
In May, a new variant of the coronavirus became the dominant strain in the United States, leading experts to anticipate an imaginable “summer surge” in COVID cases.
The new strains, known as “FLiRT” because of mutations expressed in their spike proteins, were first detected in wastewater in the United States. The symptoms of this strain are thought to be similar to those of recently circulating strains, as explained by the CDC.
As we move from the existing summer wave into the winter season, which sees an increase in cases, the CDC has asked anyone 6 months of age or older to get the updated 2024-2025 COVID vaccine, regardless of your vaccination history.
Moderna, Novavax and Pfizer will release updated vaccines later this year.
The CDC also stressed the importance of receiving COVID and flu vaccines, as they remain very important in preventing serious outcomes, including hospitalization and death. The organization has shown that it is possible to obtain either vaccine in a single visit.
The latest data from the CDC comes as scientists warn that SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, has been detected in large numbers of common garden animals across the United States.
The virus has been discovered in animals, deer mice, Virginia opossums, raccoons, groundhogs, white-tailed rabbits, and eastern red bats.
Do you have any advice on a science or fitness topic making the cover of Newsweek? Do you have any questions about COVID-19 or the new FLiRT variants? Let us know at science@newsweek. com.
Isabel Cameron is a science journalist at Newsweek in London, UK. She has covered a variety of fitness topics such as oncology, intellectual fitness remedies, and weight loss medications. Isabel joined Newsweek in July 2024, after covering the pharmaceutical industry for BioPharma Reporter and Outsourcing Pharma. She has a degree in foreign journalism from City University of London. English language.
You can contact Isabel by emailing i. cameron@newsweek. com.
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