COVID-19 cases spike as students head back to school

Health officials are tracking a COVID-19 summer surge.

“We’ve seen the numbers go positive. Over the last couple of weeks, they’ve really kind of skyrocketed beyond what we’ve seen in the last year or so,” said Dr. Jill Roberts with the USF College of Public Health.

Experts believe this current spike is due to Omicron’s FLiRT variants. They continue to make up the majority of cases, and are highly contagious.

“We’ve been seeing more and more COVID being detected in wastewater. So, why wastewater is important is that nobody has to test. So we know people aren’t testing….The wastewater doesn’t lie,” said Roberts.

According to the CDC’s wastewater surveillance , in the south, COVID activity is nearing what it was in January.

“We have seen an increase in the number of patients coming in,” said Dr. Timothy Hendrix, Medical Director of AdventHealth Centra Care.

What doctors say is different this year is that this spike happened a little later in the summer than in past years.

So now there’s a bigger risk of spread in schools— before the updated fall vaccine is available.

“These viruses do like to transmit in kids, in schools. So I anticipate we’re going to see more cases come in and this wave will probably be prolonged because kids are getting back in school,” said Hendrix.

The good news is doctors said many younger children will probably be asymptomatic or have mild symptoms—but some kids will get more sick.

“What to watch for parents—I would say a really great indicator is that sore throat. That’s one of the key first signs and symptoms we’re seeing with everybody is the sore throat," said Roberts.

“Kids that get COVID usually do well with it but they can be pretty sick. They can have high fever, cough, sore throat, a lot of misery associated with that. So we’re seeing children come in the CentraCare Urgent Cares with these fevers. They look miserable. So it’s not just a simple cold,” said Hendrix.

If your child develops any COVID symptoms in the coming weeks, experts encourage you to test them.

“It’s good to know, for at least historically in their medical records may show at one time this is a kid that did have COVID. We do see some long COVID in kids,” said Roberts.

As a reminder, keep kids home if they’re sick to minimize spread in schools.

If your child does have COVID, doctors stress the importance of making sure they stay hydrated.