CDC data shows COVID-19 is climbing again this summer. Emergency department visits rose from 0.1 percent to 0.3 percent between July and August, and the agency said infections were growing or likely growing in 43 states as of August 5, 2026.
“As of August 5, 2026, we estimate that Covid-19 infections are growing or likely growing in 43 states, declining or likely declining in 0 states, and not changing in 7 states,” the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in a summary of current trends. California, Kentucky and Hawaii were reporting moderate wastewater levels, while Alaska was seeing high activity.
Dr. Susan Kline on August trends
Dr. Susan Kline, a professor in the division of infectious diseases and international medicine at the University of Minnesota, said the pattern fits the usual summer rise. “If you look back over the last few years... the lowest rates across the country are usually late June, early July, and then in August you start to see this increase in rates,” she said in an interview with HuffPost.
She also pointed to last year’s timing. “And last year there was actually a peak in late August, going into mid-September. And we don't know for sure if that's going to be replicated this year, but it is a possibility,” Kline said.
WastewaterSCAN Dashboard signals
Wastewater data has become a more reliable way to track COVID because people have stopped testing as much as they did during the height of the pandemic. Data from the WastewaterSCAN Dashboard showed high activity levels in the past 21 days in the majority of the western and southern U.S., with the highest levels in cities in coastal states, including California and Florida.
Overall respiratory illness activity remains very low across the U.S., even as COVID-19 indicators are rising. That leaves the current increase looking broad rather than confined to one area, which is why the wastewater pattern in California, Kentucky, Hawaii and Alaska is drawing attention now.
COVID in late summer
The CDC recorded a similar increase in activity last August, and Kline said last year’s peak came in late August and ran into mid-September. People watching their own risk can use the current CDC trend as the clearest signal to keep an eye on symptoms and local wastewater changes, since the data now shows a wider late-summer rise instead of a single isolated jump.
