A new map shows where Covid cases are rising in the US as worries grow about a new variety that spreads quickly.
Stratus, or strain XFG, has been the most common strain in the country and in every region except the South since March.
According to CDC data on Covid levels in wastewater, the virus was at “moderate” levels across the country in the week leading up to September 20, the most recent date available. This was a tiny drop from the previous week, when cases were “high” nationally.
The FDA claimed that instances have risen to “very high” levels in Connecticut, Delaware, Nevada, and Utah, as well as “high” levels in 15 other states, predominantly in the Midwest and Northeast.
The most recent numbers showed that only Michigan and Missouri still had “very low” levels of the virus.
Many people who recently got Covid are saying they have a terrible sore throat that feels like a “razor blade.” This has been called a sign 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.”
Symptoms are identical to those of earlier versions. The main ones include fever, chills, cough, shortness of breath, sore throat, congestion, runny nose, loss of taste or smell, exhaustion, body aches, headache, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea.
The CDC gets its information by seeking evidence of the virus in wastewater from over 100 sites around the US.
The 15 states with the most Covid cases were Alabama, Arkansas, California, Indiana, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, and Washington.
Cases found in wastewater had also gone up in four states, including Arizona, Delaware, Montana, and New York, compared to the week before.
The rise comes as Covid cases are rising in the UK and as the US enters into the fall and winter months when respiratory viruses are more common.
Dr. Ellerin, who also works at South Shore Hospital in Massachusetts, stated, “What we see is that virus activity in the US and Europe tends to follow each other.”
“We see things in the US weeks or months after they happen in Europe.” Europe is a positive indicator of what’s going to happen here.
He also said that the COVID summer in the US was “very, very mild.”
Dr. Ellerin said, “It’s unclear if that means we could see more Covid this year, but it’s very unlikely that the virus will cause the same problems as it did in the early days of the pandemic.”
Estimates show that the XFG variety currently causes the majority of cases. It is considered to be responsible for more than eight out of 10 new Covid infections.
The World Health Organization (WHO) said that the Stratus variant first appeared in SoutheastAsia in early January and was found in the US two months later.
In May, it was responsible for only three percent of all Covid infections in the country. But as of September 27, Stratus was responsible for around 85% of the incidents.
Scientists say that this strain spreads more easily than other strains of the virus, but it doesn’t seem to cause more serious infections or death.
The XFG variety is a mix of two Omicron strains that already exist: LF.7 and LP.8.1.2. This means it has genetic material from both strains, making it easier to attach to cells and start an infection.
Wastewater surveillance across the country showed that Covid cases were at “moderate” levels. However, officials say this is still an early estimate and that they are waiting for more data to be reported, which could raise the number.
Cases also fell down in 22 other states compared to the week before. These states were 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.
The US Covid hospitalization rate was 2.6 people 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 peak level of 4.2 per 100,000 people in February.
According to data from the week ending September 27, 1.2 out of every 100,000 patients had Covid, down from 2.2 the week before, but experts claimed the data was incomplete.
Experts claimed the data was insufficient, but it showed that 1.2 out of 100,000 hospitalized patients had Covid, down from 2.2 the week before.
Health officials have warned that the XFG Covid version is spreading quickly in the US
In the most recent week available, ending September 20, about 0.8 percent of all death certificates referenced Covid. This is the same as the week before, when 0.8 percent of death certificates mentioned Covid.
Both numbers are much lower than at the pandemic’s start, when tens of thousands were hospitalized and thousands died daily.
Democrats ruled five states this month, following Florida’s announcement of no vaccine mandates.
Last month, the governors of California, Oregon, and Washington state said they had formed the West Coast Health Alliance to “make sure that residents are protected by science, not politics.”
The group aims to examine scientific evidence and recommend vaccines for individuals in these states, independent of federal regulations.
These will get around the ones put in place by the Trump administration and vaccine skeptic Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., such as the new rules about the Covid shot.
It’s the first public health collaboration in a blue state to directly oppose the administration’s policies.
In the middle of September, seven states in the Northeast, such as New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey, also created their own public health group that would suggest vaccines.