As COVID-19 cases continue to rise in the United States, largely due to the emergence of a dominant new strain, the U. S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is expanding the number of cases in the U. S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The U. S. Department of Homeland Security has released an updated map highlighting the most affected states.
Data shows five southern and southwestern states have infection rates, with more than one in four COVID tests coming back positive in Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas.
Since early April, a cluster of highly infectious fallout from the Omicron variant has gained prominence in the United States. This new class of viruses, dubbed “FLiRT” subvariants because of the position of mutations expressed in their spike proteins, now accounts for about 75 percent of infections in the United States, according to the CDC.
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For the week ending July 27, the CDC reported that 16. 3% of all COVID tests conducted in the United States (effects of at-home tests) came back positive, representing a 2% increase compared to last week. However, these positive effects have not been lightly distributed throughout the country.
The map below illustrates the distribution of positive tests in the United States, divided into ten human and fitness regions.
Region Six, which includes Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas, leads with the percentage of positive tests.
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Region Seven, which includes Iowa, Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska, reported the second highest percentage of positive tests at 17. 8 percent, and Region 4 covers Alabama, Florida, GeorgiaArray, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina and of the South and Tennessee. only 17. 5 percent.
The fourth-largest region, which had the lowest infection rates in the United States during the week ending July 20, also saw the highest significant accumulation of positive tests over the past seven days, with a 7. 2% increase in positive tests.
The lowest infection rates for the week ending July 27 were seen in region three, which encompasses Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia, with a positive 11. 1 percent, a slight decrease of 0. 3 percent from last week.
The overall rise in infections followed an increase in COVID-19 detections in wastewater studies across the United States, with “very high” degrees detected in 20 states, according to the CDC.
However, while the CDC has reported a steady increase in infections in the United States in recent weeks, hospitalizations remain low. From what we’ve noticed so far, the new FLiRT variants, while more infectious, sometimes don’t cause severe symptoms. However, it is vital to isolate yourself from others if you begin to develop symptoms.
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Pandora Dewan is a senior science reporter at Newsweek founded in London, United Kingdom. It focuses on informing about science, health and technology. Pandora joined Newsweek in 2022 and in the past worked as a content manager for climate education startup ClimateScience and as a freelancer for content creators such as Dr. Karan Rajan and Thoughty2. She holds a degree in Biological Sciences from the University of Oxford. Languages: English.
You can tap Pandora by emailing p. dewan@newsweek. com or on Twitter @dewanpandora.
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