COVID cases rising in 25 states, but nationwide activity ‘low': CDC
Modeling from the agency shows the West Coast, Southeast and South are the primary region for increased cases, though it maintains that activity overall remains 'low' nationwide.
The probability that the epidemic is growing is highest in California, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Kentucky and Ohio, among others.
The agency's wastewater monitoring dashboard tells a similar story, with Florida and Alabama leading the country in viral activity levels. Its most recent data comes from the week leading up to July 5.
COVID-19 infections part of summer spike
The uptick is part of a predicted summer spike, which lasts from July to September as part of a twice-a-year pattern recently identified by the CDC. The second spike comes in winter, typically from December to February.
'Our analysis revealed biannual COVID-19 peaks in late summer and winter, a pattern that is expected to persist as long as the rapid evolution of SARS-CoV-2 and cyclical S1 diversity continues,' agency scientists wrote.
A vast majority of the country has seen a 'minimal' percentage of patients diagnosed with COVID-19 at emergency department visits in the past week, CDC data shows.
Some states did report a 'substantial' percentage change, including New Mexico, Georgia, Kentucky and Virginia.'
'Razor blade throat' COVID variant: What to know
The data comes amid reports of a new COVID-19 variant internationally. NB.1.8.1., or 'Nimbus,' has been afflicting patients with 'razor blade throat.'
The symptom has been identified by doctors in the United Kingdom, India and elsewhere, according to media outlets in those countries.
Airport screening in the U.S. detected the new variant in travelers arriving from those regions to destinations in California, Washington state, Virginia and New York.
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Last week, I retired from practicing medicine. My medical work stopped 3 years ago, but now retirement is official. To retire, all I had to do was submit a one-page form to my state medical licensing board: name, address, email, and two boxes to check. One said that my patient records would remain accessible. The other affirmed, 'I am not aware of any open or reasonably anticipated complaints to the Board against me.' (Complaints about any physician can be submitted by email, so the most a doctor can promise is that nothing is 'reasonably anticipated.') I had decided not to renew my license this year, to avoid fees and continuing education requirements. My first medical license was issued over 50 years ago, when I was an intern. For 42 of those years, I practiced medicine in my own office. The end of my office work was sudden. I had already cut back working hours when COVID struck. On Friday, March 13, 2020, I left my office and never came back. At first, I stayed in touch with staff by phone and saw patients online a few hours a week. That was frustrating and almost useless. Remote technology back then was poor, and the visits achieved little. Some professionals who retire wonder whether doing so will cause them to lose their identity. I have found that what identity I had seems to still be there. Practicing medicine was a great privilege. Being able to help, guide, or reassure people in their times of need struck me then, and strikes me now, as a most worthy way to spend one's working life. I regret none of it. I just don't want to do it anymore. Consulting with patients, I met many people I would never have otherwise come across. They hailed from towns nearby and from countries around the world. Many shared stories I had never heard, some of which I could not have imagined. In this way, I got to know my patients, at least a bit. Over time, I grew to know some of their children, even their grandchildren. There were times when getting to know them, what they did, how they thought, had a direct impact on managing their medical condition. Most often it did not. Still, it always seemed to me that caring for people is better done if you know them, at least to some extent. Through the years, nothing changed my mind about this. Throughout, I remained grateful for the efforts patients had to make to see me. They fought traffic, scrounged parking, struggled with officialdom over referrals, sat in my waiting room, all for the honor of hearing what I had to say. To the end, I never stopped wondering whether what I had to offer was worth their effort. I would like to think that, at least for many, it was. Looking back, the practice of dermatology, and of medicine in general, has of course changed a great deal. The big change in dermatology has been the emphasis on cosmetic work, which was not part of what dermatologists did when I started out. 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