Outbreak Outlook - July 1

Summer Plans: As summer approaches and data on respiratory diseases dwindles, I am moving to my off-season schedule:

• For paid subscribers, I’ll be combining weekly updates into a single report. Expect these updates to be less detailed until the fall.
• Free subscribers will continue to receive occasional essays and posts during the summer months, but I won’t be posting as often.
• In the fall, I will return to sending out a full-length, free national version of Outbreak Outlook. Paid subscribers will receive region-specific editions with more local data.

ILI

Not much going on, as expected. Outpatient visits for influenza-like illness is minimal across the vast majority of the United States, accounting for 1.5% of all outpatient visits. DC continues to have a bit more activity, but this activity is still categorized as “low”.

At the national level, influenza remains very low at 0.2 hospitalizations per 100,000 population, with no state-level increases reported.

COVID-19

National summary

Covid-19 activity remains low but continues to pick up, particularly in the West. Wastewater data shows yet another sizable increase at the national level; levels are now more than double where they were in May. Test positivity has also more than doubled in that time frame.