Florida sees surge in COVID-19 cases in emergency departments, near peaks of last winter

The rates of COVID 19 COVID-19 cases have been rising in Florida emergency departments in recent weeks, according to new figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and are now near peaks not seen since the worst days of last winter’s virus surge.

The weekly average of emergency room patients with COVID-19 has reached 2.64% in Florida, according to CDC data updated Friday, and now ranks among the highest of any state during this summer’s COVID-19 surge.

Florida’s trends also saw sharp increases in other key indicators that officials now use to track COVID-19, including wastewater and nursing homes.

The sharp increase in the number of COVID-19 patients in Florida’s emergency rooms echoes those seen in some countries. Western Stateswhich has seen virus trends accelerate in recent weeks.

Trends remain elevated in the West, although COVID-19-related emergency room visits now appear to have peaked in Hawaii after seeing some of the highest patient rates in more than a year.

“In recent weeks, some surveillance systems have shown small national increases in COVID-19; widespread and local surges are possible during the summer months,” the CDC said in a bulletin released Wednesday.

Nationally, the majority of states are now expected to see an increase in COVID-19 cases, CDC forecasters said this week.

A growing number of states have also begun to see an increase in COVID-19 cases in hospital data, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday in its weekly report on the virus.

“Some areas of the country are experiencing a steady increase in COVID-19 activity, including increases in positive COVID-19 tests and emergency department visits, as well as increasing rates of COVID-19-associated hospitalizations among adults 65 and older at multiple sites,” the agency said.

The agency has been cautious in recent weeks, saying the summer wave of COVID-19 has arrived, saying recent increases follow historically low levels of the virus.

“Last winter, COVID-19 peaked in early January, declined rapidly in February and March, and by May 2024 was lower than at any time since March 2020,” the CDC said.

Outside of Florida and the West, rates of virus-related emergency room visits remain far from previous peaks, despite recent increases. Overall, the CDC says national COVID-19 activity remains “low.”

In previous years, COVID-19 activity has increased at least twice per year since the start of the pandemic, once in the summer or early fall after a lull in the spring, and then again in the winter, driven by new outbreaks. virus variants.

The closely related KP.2 and KP.3 variants are currently dominant nationwide, causing more than half of cases in recent weeks, according to estimates released Friday by the CDC.

Behind them, a mix of other variants has accelerated. LB.1 is the second most prominent, accounting for 14.9% of cases. And in the region from New Mexico to Louisiana, the CDC estimates that a new variant called KP.4.1 has reached 17.9% of infections through June 22.