Is COVID returning? Summer uptick of virus may have begun in California

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Set us as preferred COVID-19 is on the upswing in California and across a swath of the West and the South, a sign that the virus may be starting its seasonal summer uptick.The U.S.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that COVID is growing in California, Texas, Florida, Missouri, Alabama, Oregon, Utah, Nevada, New Mexico and Hawaii.

Levels of COVID-19 in those states — measured by the share of emergency room visits caused by COVID — still remain very low, the CDC said.Other data points also suggest COVID is rising.

“COVID-19 activity has been gradually increasing across California based on test positivity trends.Wastewater concentrations are also increasing,” according to Grant Boyken, a spokesperson for the California Department of Public Health.

For the week that ended July 18, 3.4% of COVID tests in California came back positive.That’s lower than at the same time in the prior two years, but it’s still an increase from a month ago, when the test positivity rate was 1.15%.

According to health officials and experts, it wouldn’t be surprising for a summer increase in COVID to begin now.Large numbers of people haven’t fallen ill with COVID for quite a while.

“We’re kind of due for more people getting sick,” said Dr.Peter Chin-Hong.“Hopefully, that won’t happen.

But I think that’s what we’re worried about,” said Chin-Hong, a UC San Francisco infectious diseases expert.At the moment, however, UC San Francisco is not seeing a lot of COVID cases in its hospitals, he noted.

Kaiser is noticing a small increase in COVID cases just in the last two weeks — nearly all of them outpatients, said Dr.Elizabeth Hudson, regional physician chief of infectious diseases at Kaiser Permanente Southern California.The COVID test positivity rate in L.A.

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