Policy Backgrounders

Summer COVID Surge

July 25, 2024

Trusted Insights for What’s Ahead™

As in years past, the US is experiencing a summer wave of COVID-19 infections, driven by larger summer gatherings, indoors and outdoors, and more people spending time indoors during warmer weather as well as changes in variants for which current vaccines offer reduced defense (though vaccines still reduce the severity of disease for most people).

• Wastewater sampling shows that national COVID prevalence is “high,” with the West currently the most affected region.
• Positive test results, emergency room visits, hospitalizations, and deaths related to COVID-19 have also risen in recent weeks.
• Still, COVID remains far away from pandemic levels and from the winter surge, which is generally higher than the summer surge.
• Continued wastewater sampling and vigilance remain important for determining national prevalence levels of COVID-19 for other pathogens, such as Influenza A.