Flu Levels Are \u201cVery High\u201d and \u201cHigh\u201d in These 14 States<\/a>.<\/p>\nThese states have \u201cvery high\u201d COVID levels.<\/p>\n
The CDC regularly tests wastewater (sewage) to detect traces of infectious diseases circulating in a community, even if people don\u2019t have symptoms. This is especially useful for detecting COVID rates, since Cleveland Clinic estimates 20 percent of cases are asymptomatic.<\/p>\n
Health authorities also use this data \u201cas an early warning that levels of infections may be increasing or decreasing in your community.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to this data, five states are currently listed by the CDC as having \u201cvery high\u201d levels of COVID, with two located in the Northeast and three in the Midwest:<\/p>\n
Connecticut
\nMassachusetts
\nNebraska
\nOhio
\nSouth Dakota<\/p>\n
In these states, elevated transmission suggests the virus is spreading more widely within communities, increasing the likelihood of outbreaks and putting added strain on healthcare systems.<\/p>\n
Public health experts emphasize that residents\u2014especially older adults, people with underlying health conditions, and those who are immunocompromised\u2014may face a higher risk of severe illness in areas with very high activity and should take extra precautions as the respiratory virus season continues.<\/p>\n
These states have \u201chigh\u201d COVID levels.<\/p>\n
An additional eight states have \u201chigh\u201d COVID levels this week, according to CDC data last updated on January 4. Once again, the Northeast and Midwest featured heavily on the list, with just one Northwestern state and one Southern state breaking the pattern. Those states are:<\/p>\n
Arkansas
\nIndiana
\nKansas
\nMaine
\nMichigan
\nMontana
\nNew Hampshire
\nWest Virginia<\/p>\n
How can I protect myself against COVID this season?<\/p>\n
As COVID continues to circulate this season, the most effective way to protect yourself is to layer proven prevention strategies. Staying up to date on your COVID vaccination remains a cornerstone of protection, especially for older adults and people with underlying health conditions, as vaccines significantly reduce the risk of severe illness, hospitalization, and death.<\/p>\n
If you are at high risk of severe infection and living in an area with high or very high COVID levels, wearing a high-quality mask\u2014such as an N95 or KN95\u2014in crowded indoor spaces can further lower your risk of infection. Improving ventilation at home and in shared spaces, whether by opening windows or using air purifiers, also helps reduce the concentration of virus particles in the air.<\/p>\n
Every day habits matter, too. If you feel sick, staying home and getting tested can prevent unknowingly spreading the virus to others. Frequent handwashing, while not the primary defense against airborne spread, still helps limit transmission from contaminated surfaces.<\/p>\n
Paying attention to local COVID activity levels can guide your decisions about gatherings and travel, and taking extra precautions when rates are elevated can make a meaningful difference.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The CDC\u2019s virus tracker shows that respiratory illness activity has climbed to some of the season’s highest levels.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":401181,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[97,63536,3],"class_list":["post-401180","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-health","tag-health-facts","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401180","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=401180"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401180\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/401181"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=401180"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=401180"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=401180"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}