A new map shows where Covid infections are rising in the US as fears grow about a new strain that spreads swiftly.
Since March, Stratus, or strain XFG, has been the most frequent strain in the country and in every region except the South.
The CDC’s statistics on Covid levels in wastewater show that the virus was at “moderate” levels across the country in the week before September 20, which is the most recent date available. This was a small decline from the week before, when instances were “high” across the country.
The FDA said that cases have reached “very high” levels in Connecticut, Delaware, Nevada, and Utah, and “high” levels in 15 additional states, mostly in the Midwest and Northeast.
The most recent figures showed that Michigan and Missouri still had “very low” amounts of the virus.
A lot of patients who just got Covid claim their throat hurts so much that it feels like a “razor blade.” People have said that this is an indication of this new mutant strain.
Dr. Todd Ellerin, an expert in infectious diseases at Harvard University, told the Daily Mail, “This isn’t the first time a sore throat has been linked to a Covid infection; it’s been a sign of the infection since the beginning.”
The symptoms are the same as they were in earlier versions. Fever, chills, cough, shortness of breath, sore throat, congestion, runny nose, loss of taste or smell, tiredness, body pains, headache, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea are the most common ones.
The CDC finds out about the virus by looking for it in wastewater from more than 100 places in the US.
Alabama, Arkansas, California, Indiana, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, and Washington had the most Covid instances.
Compared to the week before, the number of cases discovered in wastewater had also gone up in four states: Arizona, Delaware, Montana, and New York.
The spike comes at a time when Covid cases are rising in the UK and the US is entering the fall and winter months, when respiratory infections are more common.
“What we see is that virus activity in the US and Europe tends to follow each other,” said Dr. Ellerin, who also works at South Shore Hospital in Massachusetts.
“We see things in the US weeks or months after they happen in Europe.” Europe is a good sign of what will happen here.
He also noted that the summer of COVID in the US was “very, very mild.”
Dr. Ellerin stated, “It’s not clear if that means we could see more Covid this year, but the virus is very unlikely to cause the same problems it did at the beginning of the pandemic.”
Most cases right now are thought to be caused by the XFG variant. It is thought to be the cause of more than eight out of ten new Covid cases.
The World Health Organization (WHO) reported that the Stratus variety first showed out in Southeast Asia in early January and then showed up in the US two months later.
In May, it was only responsible for three percent of all Covid infections in the country. But as of September 27, Stratus was to blame for almost 85% of the events.
Researchers say that this strain transmits more quickly than other forms of the virus, yet it doesn’t seem to make people worse or kill them.
The XFG variety is a cross between two Omicron strains that are currently out there: LF.7 and LP.8.1.2. This means it has DNA from both strains, which makes it easier to adhere to cells and initiate an infection.
Wastewater testing all around the country found that there were “moderate” levels of Covid cases. Officials stress, though, that this is still an early estimate and that they are waiting for more data to come in, which might make the figure go up.
In 22 other states, the number of cases likewise went down from the week before. Alaska, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, Nebraska, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, and West Virginia were among these states.
The number of persons in the US who were hospitalized with Covid was 2.6 per 100,000 people in the week ending September 6. This was the highest level since February of this year, but it was still lower than the record level of 4.2 per 100,000 persons in February.
Experts said the data was insufficient, but it showed that 1.2 out of every 100,000 patients got Covid the week ending September 27, down from 2.2 the week before.
Experts said the data wasn’t enough, but it did show that 1.2 out of 100,000 hospitalized patients received Covid, which was down from 2.2 the week before.
Health experts have said that the XFG Covid variant is spreading swiftly in the US
About 0.8 percent of all death certificates from the week ending September 20 mentioned Covid. This is the same as the week before, when 0.8% of death certificates mentioned Covid.
Both statistics are substantially lower than they were at the onset of the pandemic, when tens of thousands were in the hospital and thousands died every day.
This month, Democrats were in charge of five states after Florida said it would not require vaccines.
The governors of California, Oregon, and Washington state declared last month that they had founded the West Coast Health Alliance to “make sure that residents are protected by science, not politics.”
The group wants to look at scientific findings and suggest immunizations for people in certain states, without having to follow federal rules.
These will get around the rules that the Trump administration and vaccine skeptic Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. put in place, like the new rules about the Covid shot.
It’s the first time a public health group in a blue state has worked together to go against the government’s policy.
In the middle of September, seven states in the Northeast, including New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, also made their own public health group to recommend vaccines.
