"The good news is that overall levels of the SARS-CoV-2 virus are low in wastewater across the United States. We are seeing descendent variants of XBB that are putting pressure on XBB 1.5, but none of them is taking over which reassures us that the newer variants will not cause a big wave soon. Hospitalizations and emergency room visits for COVID are also very low now. There was a bit of a scare in New York City this week as reported wastewater showed a very high concentration of virus, but it turns out that this was because of an accidental misinterpretation of wastewater data from a site that recently had significantly increased their sensitivity. So, NYC wastewater levels were low like most of the U.S.
"Despite this, three different people this week told me that they had avoided COVID for the last three years, but they caught it recently because they let their guard down. They thought the pandemic was over and that they could not get COVID. But the virus is still circulating, and they got it, especially when they did not wear masks indoors. If you get a 'summer cold', I would recommend that you test to make sure that it’s not actually COVID.
"As Dr. Akiko Iwasaki recently said, 'We are not done with COVID. Not even close.' The latest, subvariants of XBB are very contagious. If you test positive on a rapid antigen test, then you are still contagious and need to quarantine. PCR tests will stay positive sometimes for many months because they are so sensitive, but home rapid antigen tests are only positive if you have enough virus to be contagious."
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