{"id":825919,"date":"2026-08-26T01:34:15","date_gmt":"2026-08-26T01:34:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/825919\/"},"modified":"2026-08-26T01:34:15","modified_gmt":"2026-08-26T01:34:15","slug":"covid-19-cases-rise-over-summer-as-doctors-see-different-symptoms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/825919\/","title":{"rendered":"COVID-19 cases rise over summer as doctors see different symptoms"},"content":{"rendered":"

ALBANY, Ga. (WALB<\/a>\/Gray News) \u2013 Doctors have seen an increase in COVID-19 cases nationally through the summer months, but the symptoms look different this time. <\/p>\n

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention<\/a> said the back-to-school season COVID-19 activity is adding to the increase, even though overall respiratory illness remains low.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re still seeing people with fevers, cough [and] upper respiratory-type symptoms, but a lot of people are coming in with gastrointestinal symptoms – nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, sometimes to the point of mild dehydration,\u201d said Dr. James Black, medical director of emergency services at Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital in Albany.<\/p>\n

\"FILEFILE — Doctors are seeing more COVID-19 cases over the summer, including patients with gastrointestinal symptoms such as nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.(MGN | Pixabay via MGN Image)<\/p>\n

Black said COVID-19 and the flu are behind many of the illnesses doctors are treating right now. He said it is too early to know exactly what\u2019s driving the change in symptoms or whether it is a new variant.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s hard to say, but as most viruses do, it mutates. So, I\u2019m certain that it\u2019s changed from what we have seen in the past,\u201d Black said. <\/p>\n

Black said the word \u201cCOVID\u201d can still carry weight for families, six years after the pandemic began. He said what doctors are seeing now is closer to the original form of the virus.<\/p>\n

\u201cCertainly coronavirus, which has been around for a long time, way before COVID-19, is still present,\u201d Black said. \u201cAnd it\u2019s been causing illnesses for years prior to COVID-19 and even beyond. So, we\u2019re seeing it kind of revert back to its formal form, where it caused those upper respiratory symptoms and sometimes the gastrointestinal systems.\u201d<\/p>\n

With schools back in session, Black said families should stay alert, but not alarmed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want anybody to be afraid,\u201d he said. \u201cYou treat the symptoms, you control the fever, make sure people are taking in adequate amounts of fluid and nutrition.\u201d<\/p>\n

Black recommends the standard precautions: frequent hand-washing and covering coughs and sneezes. He said there is no set quarantine period for keeping kids home from school.<\/p>\n

\u201cGood rule of thumb is \u2014 I would hold people out of school until they\u2019ve been without a fever for 24 hours,\u201d Black said.<\/p>\n

He said most symptoms can be managed at home.<\/p>\n

\u201cCertainly, acetaminophen or ibuprofen to help with the fever and the body aches,\u201d Black said. \u201cAgain, if those things aren\u2019t working, then certainly come in to see us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Black said people should seek emergency care if they develop extreme shortness of breath or can\u2019t keep fluids down.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 WALB via Gray Local Media, Inc. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ALBANY, Ga. (WALB\/Gray News) \u2013 Doctors have seen an increase in COVID-19 cases nationally through the summer months,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":825920,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[349918,349931,349928,349927,349926,349925,349929,349930,349922,349924,97,349919,349923,349917,349921,349920],"class_list":["post-825919","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-are-gastrointestinal-symptoms-a-sign-of-covid-19","tag-back-to-school-covid-19-georgia","tag-covid-19-and-flu-symptoms","tag-covid-19-cough-and-fever","tag-covid-19-diarrhea","tag-covid-19-nausea-and-vomiting","tag-covid-19-precuations","tag-covid-19-school-guidelines","tag-covid-19-symptoms","tag-gastrointestinal-covid-19-symptoms","tag-health","tag-how-long-should-children-stay-home-from-school-with-a-fever","tag-summer-covid-19-cases","tag-what-are-the-current-covid-19-symptoms","tag-what-are-the-symptoms-of-covid-19-and-the-flu","tag-when-should-someone-seek-emergency-care-for-covid-19"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/825919","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=825919"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/825919\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/825920"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=825919"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=825919"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=825919"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}