The spread of COVID-19 has been on the rise again in Virginia recent months following a steady decline through early May, state data shows, and diagnosis is 128% higher than this time last year. Experts advise that the public get the new vaccine, which should be available within a few weeks. For the week ending Aug.
10, 3% of emergency department visits were for patients diagnosed with COVID-19, according to a Virginia Department of Health spokesperson. State health officials also monitor wastewater to gauge the spread of the coronavirus, and activity is considered “very high” — in Virginia and nationally. Wastewater data is useful to experts because it’s independent of the public’s decision to get tested or seek medical care, said Logan Anderson, a VDH spokesperson.
“The very high levels of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater likely means that many people are sick with COVID-19 but have more mild illness and are able to recover at home,” Anderson said in an email. Anderson added that, in keeping with the seasonal pattern of COVID-19, experts expect the virus to have a peak in late summer then worsen again mid-winter with another peak around the new year. The Centers for Disease Control recommends that everyone six months and older should get a 2024-25 coronavirus vaccine — expected to be available in mid- to late-September.
This latest inoculation is designed to target the KP.2 variant, which was causing about 4% of COVID-19 infections as of March but became the most co.