FLORIDA, USA — The U.S. Centers for Disease Control is reporting an increase in the COVID-19 virus both nationwide and in the state of Florida. While Florida has only recently resumed gathering wastewater surveillance data to track the spread of the virus by county, some of the currently available figures suggest the Sunshine State may be heading for levels of the virus last reached in August.
While not all Florida counties have submitted recent wastewater data, making the state's overall figures inconclusive for now, nearly all of the counties with data from November and December showed an upswing in virus activity.
Alachua, Miami-Dade, Palm Beach and Seminole counties all showed an increase in the virus starting in November and continuing to rise after Thanksgiving weekend, according to wastewater data submitted to Biobot.
In the nation at large, the highest levels of virus activity and the steepest jumps in hospital admissions from the virus are happening in states further north, including West Virginia, Ohio, Wisconsin, South Dakota and Montana.
Of all the COVID-19 virus variants detected in wastewater sites, the predominant strain continues to be EG.5, which has dominated the strains for at least four months. A pediatric infectious disease specialist interviewed by the magazine "Health" said the patients she saw who had tested positive for the EG. 5 variant had symptoms similar to past Omicron variants. She also said some of her patients initially thought they had allergies due to the nature of the symptoms. These included:
- Sore throat
- Cough
- Congestion
- Runny nose
The latest COVID-19 booster vaccine has been deemed effective in reducing symptoms and helping protect against the latest variants of the virus, though CDC data suggests only 17 percent of the population has gotten their COVID-19 booster shots.