COVID Growing in 47 States, CDC Data Shows

Doctors quoted in the coverage played down panic while urging people not to shrug off symptoms.

"Today it is uncommon for infection to progress to the severe stages," Jonathan Pinsky, medical director of infection control and prevention at Endeavor Health, told Newsweek. "However, COVID can cause complications more often in the elderly, immune compromised, and others with chronic medical conditions."

Suraj Saggar, chief of infectious disease at Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck, New Jersey, told Newsweek the wave is routine: "We typically see increases in cases during the summer, when you have summer travel and then back-to-school season, and again in the winter. So, we know this pattern, and it's repeating now. But it's not surprising." He added that "we're starting from a very low baseline," and that the current numbers are "still much lower than the summer surges we saw in 2021, 2022, and the years after that."

Tyler Evans, an infectious disease physician and CEO of Wellness Equity Alliance, singled out one symptom. "The sore throat is often described as scratchy or hoarse, and it is frequently mistaken for allergies or a summer cold. That mistake matters," he told Newsweek. "People who assume allergies do not test, and people who do not test do not get treated in the window when treatment works."

Vanderbilt University Medical Center infectious disease specialist Dr. William Schaffner told TODAY.com the twice-yearly pattern is established: "We've had two waves (every year). One in the middle to late summer, and the other during the winter."