Residents in the central South and Midwest have experienced the highest rates of positive COVID-19 tests in the past four weeks, according to maps published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and its data tracker on Friday.
Of approximately 44,664 antigen tests taken in a month's time concluding on September 23, Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas saw 17.7 percent of tests return with positive results. Meanwhile, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa and Missouri saw 15.9 percent of an approximate test volume of 18,000 individuals return positive results.
The average test positivity in the past four weeks nationwide through September 23 was 13.8 percent.
CDC spokesperson David Daigle told Newsweek via email on Monday that the center's guidance for individual and community actions around COVID-19 are tied to hospital admission levels, which are currently low for most of the country.
"While hospitalization rates now seem to be plateauing, we are entering October, which is the typical start of the respiratory virus season," Daigle said. "Even if hospitalization rates level off for a few weeks, they could increase in the coming weeks, and prevention is the best approach. Vaccination can help protect people in advance of any potential surges in virus circulation in the months ahead."
The rest of the United States experienced between 10 and 15 percent in positive cases within the same time frame. States with a 14.5 percent positivity rate throughout the past month include Arizona, California and Nevada.
Mask mandates were recently brought back in California, notably requiring some employees at Lionsgate headquarters in Los Angeles to mask up. Kaiser Permanente, a health care company, is also requiring staff, patients and visitors to wear masks at its Santa Rosa hospital and medical offices in northern California due to increased cases.
A CDC update issued on Thursday reported that nationwide the prevalence was around 11.6 percent of tests undertaken. As of September 15, the CDC said that the COVID subvariants EG.5 and BA.2.86 do "not appear to be rapidly increasing or driving increases in infections or hospitalizations," in the U.S., and that existing antibodies were giving individuals immunity against the new strain.
John P. Moore, a professor of microbiology and immunology at Cornell University, told Newsweek via email on Monday that recent case increases are "somewhat overblown" based on a very low baseline affecting a case number of about 15 percent of the peak numbers witnessed in early 2022.
"Moreover, my clinician colleagues tell me what I think has been well reported: hospitalizations for severe infections almost always involve the unvaccinated or people with a high risk of problems due to the now well-known preexisting conditions, particularly those compromising the immune system," Moore said.
Significant increases in infections has become routine around mid-late November, he added, due to Thanksgiving travel and the change in weather. That should likely be the case again this year.
"However, again, the now very high level of cumulative antigen exposure to the virus (vaccines plus prior infections) will mean that for most people their infections will be mild to inconvenient but not hospital grade," he added.
In mid-September, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved boosters made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna to target such variants.
A CDC panel of advisers voted 13-1 in favor of its broad use for individuals 6 months and older due to fears of increased respiratory illnesses nationwide this fall and winter.
"In studies that have been recently conducted, the extent of neutralization observed by the updated vaccines against currently circulating viral variants causing COVID-19, including EG.5 and BA.2.86, appears to be of a similar magnitude to the extent of neutralization observed with prior versions of the vaccines against corresponding prior variants against which they had been developed to provide protection," the FDA said at the time about the efficacy and process regarding manufactured mRNA vaccines.
In the week ending September 23, there were 12 states where coronavirus hospitalizations increased by a "substantial" amount, or by more than 20 percent, including Connecticut (36 percent), Montana (32.2 percent), Delaware (31.8 percent), Wisconsin (31.6 percent), New Mexico (29.5 percent) and New Hampshire (27.6 percent).
South Dakota, North Dakota, Maryland, Idaho, Nevada and Minnesota were also among that group—viewed to be on the higher end of the spectrum after cases have decreased following a short-lived surge in the summer months. Deaths also remain low nationally.
Update 10/02/23, 10:45 a.m. ET: This article was updated with comment from the CDC.
Update 10/02/23, 10:37 a.m. ET: This article was updated with comment from Moore.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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Nick Mordowanec is a Newsweek reporter based in Michigan. His focus is reporting on Ukraine and Russia, along with social ... Read more
