Midwestern states have noted a higher prevalence of COVID-19 infections than other parts of the U. S. The U. S. Department of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has been released in the past week, according to maps produced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa and Missouri saw 15% of antigen tests come back positive in the week leading up to Sept. 23, suggesting an increase in virus flow in the region. In an update released Thursday, the CDC said the nationwide prevalence is about 11. 6 percent of tests performed.
The effects do not show a significant improvement in last week’s positivity in the United States, suggesting that the number of infections would likely have leveled off after a spike over the summer.
Newsweek reached out to the CDC email Friday for comment.
The findings come as some personal institutions, hospital operators and schools in the U. S. have taken action. The U. S. has reintroduced a requirement for visitors to wear masks on its sites to restrict the spread of the new variants: EG. 5 and BA. 2. 86.
On Sept. 15, the CDC said the latest variant “does not appear to accumulate or cause an accumulation of infections or hospitalizations” in the United States, and that existing antibodies confer Americans immunity to the new strain.
A company spokesperson told Newsweek on Wednesday that its genomic surveillance indicated that most of the infections were due “to strains very similar to the Omicron strains” circulating since early 2022.
The rest of the Midwest, such as Alaska, Hawaii, New York and New Jersey, had a more moderate positivity rate, ranging from 10. 4% in states like Texas and New Mexico, to 13. 2% in Mid-Atlantic states.
Pennsylvania, the South, New England and the District of Columbia were among the regions with the lowest positivity ages, ranging from 7. 6 in Delaware and Maryland to 9. 7 in New England.
The CDC cautioned that knowledge came with at-home testing and said effects may need to be updated due to delays in testing center reporting.
He also noted that “knowledge represents the laboratory tests performed, not individual individuals,” as a user can go through testing in a week, but said the percentage of positive tests “is one of the parameters used to monitor COVID-19 transmission. “over time and across the area. “
There was more disparity in virus-related hospitalizations in the week leading up to Sept. 16, with no transparent geographic distribution of admissions. But in the last update, hospital admissions declined or were subject to slight increases in many states.
Nationally, in the week to Sept. 23, there were 19,079 overall COVID-related hospitalizations, down from last week, following a consecutive three-week downward trend from a peak last month.
“While rates now appear to be stabilizing, we are entering October, which is the typical start of the respiratory virus season,” a CDC spokesperson said Wednesday. “Even if hospitalization rates stabilize for a few weeks, they may simply add up in the future. “coming weeks, and prevention remains the focus. “