COVID-19

US COVID activity remains elevated, though some markers decline Wastewater levels are still high, but some indicators such as hospitalizations trended downward. CIDRAP

...Other indicators, however, showed small declines, including test positivity, which was at 14.9% last week, down 1.6% from the previous week. Levels are highest in the central states, which include Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska. Emergency department visits declined last week but are still at the moderate level in a few southeastern states.

3 studies uncover flu, COVID vaccine reluctance, impact of mental illness on uptake Three new observational studies on influenza and COVID-19 vaccine uptake find that more than a third of US adults say they don't need any vaccines, 64% of French healthcare workers got the flu shot but not the COVID vaccine in 2022-2023, and psychiatric illness is tied to a significantly higher likelihood of receiving a flu vaccine but lower odds of getting a COVID vaccine. CIDRAP

...

COVID map update: major shift in U.S. states with highest rates A new cluster of states across the country has seen a significant spike in the recorded COVID-19 cases. Newsweek

...

For the week ending August 31, the CDC reported that 16.3 percent of all COVID-19 tests performed in the U.S.—excluding at-home test results—were coming back positive. This is a 0.4 percent decrease from the previous week, but the infection rates have not been evenly distributed across the country.

The below map illustrates the distribution of positive tests in the U.S., divided into 10 Health and Human Service regions.

... map