COVID in California keeps rising: Wastewater levels worse than last summer

Coronavirus levels in California's wastewater now exceed last summer's peak, an indication of the rapid spread of the super-contagious new FLiRT strains.

California has "very high" coronavirus levels in its wastewater — one of 21 states in that category, up from seven the prior week, according to estimates published Friday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

That means about 155 million people — nearly half of America's population — live in areas with "very high" coronavirus levels in sewage. Besides California, the other states with "very high" levels are Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia and Wyoming. Washington, D.C., is also in that category.

Coronavirus levels in wastewater are also surging in Los Angeles County — and the rate of increase has been accelerating. The county also has seen notable jumps this month in newly confirmed infections, coronavirus-positive hospitalizations and the share of emergency room visits attributable to COVID-19.

Nationally, overall viral levels in wastewater are considered "high" for the second straight week, the CDC said. The estimates are subject to change as more data come in.

Most Americans probably know a family member, friend, co-worker or acquaintance who has come down with COVID-19 recently, perhaps being infected while traveling or at a social gathering.

"If you call — I don't know — 20 or 30 friends, you're very, very likely to find a bunch of them actually have COVID, or have had COVID recently, or are starting to be symptomatic," said Dr. Ziyad Al-Aly, a COVID expert and chief of research and development at the Veterans Affairs St. Louis Health Care System in Missouri.

One notable recent case was President Biden, who tested positive for COVID-19 on Wednesday while traveling in Las Vegas. Biden returned to Delaware to recover. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass tested positive a few weeks ago, and Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Oakland) said Tuesday that she was celebrating her birthday while recovering from COVID.

"Our fight against COVID is not over!" Lee said on social media.

Across the nation, COVID-19's shadow has become more pronounced lately, with the usual seasonal uptick in travel and socialization spawning a fresh spate of infections. Many cases are relatively mild, but nevertheless disruptive — forcing trips or plans to be canceled.

Some recently infected people have described painful COVID symptoms , such as a throat that feels like it's studded with razor blades. Overall, however, there are no indications the FLiRT subvariants are associated with increased illness severity that would trigger a substantial increase in hospitalizations.

The CDC estimates that COVID-19 infections are growing or likely growing in 41 states, including California. There are no states where the coronavirus is declining or likely declining.

The COVID resurgence comes as the sprawling FLiRT family is increasing its dominance nationally. For the two-week period that ended Saturday, the CDC estimates that about 80% of the nation's coronavirus specimens are of the FLiRT subvariants, up from about 65% for the same period a month earlier.

Across California, the rate at which COVID tests are returning positive results is also on the rise. For the week that ended July 15, 12.8% of tests came back positive. That's up from 5.9% a month earlier and close to last summer's peak of 13.1%, which was recorded at the end of August and early September.

For the 10-day period that ended July 6, the most recent for which data are available, coronavirus levels in Los Angeles County wastewater were at 36% of last winter’s peak, up from 27% for the 10-day period that ended June 29.

Newly confirmed COVID cases are rising faster, too. For the week that ended July 14, there were an average of 359 new cases a day in L.A. County, up from 307 the prior week. A month earlier, there were 154 cases a day.

Official COVID-19 case tallies are certainly an undercount, as those figures include only tests done at medical facilities, not those taken at home, and also don't account for the fact that fewer people are testing when they feel sick. But the overall trends are still helpful to determine the trajectory of the summer wave.

COVID hospitalizations are also ticking up, though they remain below last summer's peak. For the week that ended July 13, there were an average of 287 COVID-positive people per day in L.A. County hospitals, up from 139 for the comparable period a month earlier. Last summer's peak was the week that ended Sept. 9, when an average of 620 COVID-positive patients were in the region's hospitals per day.

For the week that ended July 14, L.A. County reported that 2.8% of all emergency room visits were COVID-related — up from 1.8% for the comparable period a month earlier, but below last summer's peak of 5.1%.

Coronavirus levels are also high in the sewage of Santa Clara County , the San Francisco Bay Area's most populous region and home to Silicon Valley. As of Friday, coronavirus levels were "high" in all of its sewersheds — San José, Palo Alto, Sunnyvale and Gilroy.

Doctors say it's important to get tested if you have COVID symptoms, such as fever, aches, sore throat, chills, fatigue, cough, runny nose or headache, as well as less-common ailments such as vomiting, diarrhea and stomachache.

Most health insurance plans in California — at least those regulated by the state — are required to reimburse covered people for eight at-home test kits per month, if an in-network provider is used.

Additionally, "if you have insurance, your health insurer is required to cover the entire cost of testing if a doctor orders the test. You do not need to have symptoms to request a test," according to the L.A. County Department of Public Health.

Eligible individuals can also search for no-cost testing locations through a CDC website, testinglocator.cdc.gov . Those who have insurance may need to provide insurance information.

People who don't have health insurance in L.A. County can also get free COVID testing at the county's public health center nurse-only clinics and multi-service vaccination sites . Seniors age 65 and up who live in L.A. County, as well as residents who are unable to leave home, can also ask for two free test kits to be mailed to them by filling out a form online. Libraries in L.A. County, as well as food banks and senior centers, may also have free COVID test kits available.

Health officials also have urged people to consider asking medical providers for antiviral treatments, such as Paxlovid , to help battle an active COVID illness. Antivirals can be used to treat people with mild to moderate illness who are at risk of seeing their condition deteriorate.

"Waiting for symptoms to worsen is not recommended," the California Department of Public Health says .

Health officials previously have said that antiviral drugs are underused and they implored healthcare providers to properly prescribe them when indicated.

In an advisory , the California Department of Public Health said, “Most adults and some children with symptomatic COVID-19 are eligible for treatments. ... Providers should have a low threshold for prescribing COVID-19 therapeutics.”

The state of California once made virtual medical COVID visits free for residents, but that program ended in March. The contractor that provided the service, sesamecare.com/covid , now offers those medical services for a fee, though with a discount for California residents.

There has been relatively low uptake of the updated COVID-19 vaccine, which became available in September . Since then, 36.7% of California’s seniors 65 and older have received at least one dose of the updated vaccine, as have 18.5% of adults age 50 to 64 and 10% of younger adults, up to age 49.

For people who haven’t received an updated COVID vaccine within the last year, “you should think about getting it, especially if you’re older and immune-compromised,” said UC San Francisco infectious diseases expert Dr. Peter Chin-Hong. People at highest risk of dying from COVID are those who are older or have weakened immune systems and haven't been recently vaccinated.

Getting the 2023-24 vaccine now will still allow you to get the updated COVID vaccination that is on track to become available this fall. The CDC will recommend everyone 6 months and older get the updated 2024-25 version of the vaccine.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times .