National numbers, March 19

March 19, 2023.Reading time 6 minutes.

The trend continues: COVID-19 spread is still on the decline across the U.S., but it’s a slow decline. These updates are getting pretty repetitive to write, as we’ve been seeing this pattern since late January—which, honestly, I’m taking as a good sign.

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Sources and updates, March 5

March 5, 2023.Reading time 4 minutes.

Sources and updates for the week of March 5 include a joint COVID/flu rapid test, new Long COVID studies, RSV vaccines, and more.

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This winter’s COVID-19 surge wasn’t “mild”

February 12, 2023.Reading time 8 minutes.

You might have seen some headlines like this in the last few weeks: COVID-19 was “mild” this winter. This winter was “better” than previous winters. COVID-19 is becoming “another seasonal virus” like flu and RSV. But looking at the actual data, we can see this is far from the truth.

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Sources and updates, February 5

February 5, 2023.Reading time 4 minutes.

Sources and updates for the week of February 5 include modeling persistent COVID-19 risk, global vaccination coverage, COVID-related lawsuits, and more.

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National numbers, December 18

December 18, 2022.Reading time 5 minutes.

After a significant post-Thanksgiving spike, COVID-19 transmission in the U.S. appears to be in a high plateau, according to trends in cases and wastewater. Official case counts stayed fairly steady this week compared to the week following the holiday, according to the CDC, while wastewater data from Biobot show coronavirus concentrations leveling out.

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National numbers, December 11

December 11, 2022.Reading time 6 minutes.

It’s now undeniable that Thanksgiving led to a jump in COVID-19 spread: officially-reported cases went up 50% this past week compared to the week of the holiday, following the trend that we first saw in wastewater data. Hospital admissions for COVID-19 also continue to go up.

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National numbers, November 20

November 20, 2022.Reading time 6 minutes.

Nationwide, reported COVID-19 cases and new hospital admissions are still in a plateau; both metrics declined very slightly this week after rising slightly last week (declining by 3% and 1%, respectively).

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COVID source shout-out: HealthWeather dashboard

November 13, 2022.Reading time 2 minutes.

I recently learned about the Kinsa HealthWeather dashboard, a resource providing COVID-19 risk estimates by state and county based on data from smart thermometers.

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National numbers, November 6

November 6, 2022.Reading time 6 minutes.

Continuing a trend from the last few weeks, nationwide COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are still at plateaus or trending very slightly downward. We aren’t clearly in a fall surge yet, but concerning newer Omicron subvariants are rising—along with other respiratory diseases.

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The U.S.’s flu and RSV surveillance is insufficient for tracking this fall’s outbreaks

October 30, 2022.Reading time 11 minutes.

I recently received a question from a reader, asking how to follow both COVID-19 and the flu in the county where she lives. For COVID-19, county-level data sources aren’t too hard to find; for the flu, this is much harder.

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