COVID summer surge: CDC data shows cases ‘very high' in California

A COVID summer surge has the virus hitting record levels in some areas.

The virus is booming nationwide and especially high in the west coast. CDC wastewater data map shows COVID is "very high" and 19 states, including California, are currently considered "very high" zones.

"I'm also hearing that everyone is getting it right now in the community," UCSF infectious disease expert Dr. Peter Chin-Hong said.

Doctors said a few things have led to the perfect Summer COVID storm.

Many people have gone indoors to escape the heat waves in the west.

On top of that, we travel more in the summer. Fewer people are taking precautions.

Chin-Hong notes the new variants are getting better at evading our immune systems.

"So it's thought that the FLiRT variants are 20% more transmissible than the one that was circulating in winter," Chin-Hong said.

While COVID hospitalizations remain low, the virus is still packing a punch.

"We're still seeing people in the hospital and people are still getting very sick, but the majority of cases right now are in the community and in urgent care," Chin-Hong said.

Santa Clara County Public Health wastewater data for San Jose shows a local spike that nearly matches the winter 2022 omicron surge -- and we may not have peaked quite yet.

"People usually associate respiratory illness with the winter," said Dr. Krishna Surasi, Santa Clara County assistant public health officer. "That's certainly the pattern we've seen with RSV and the flu. But for COVID, consistently now, we've seen peaks in the winter and the summer."

The CDC said anyone who gets COVID can return to normal activities once symptoms are improving and have been fever-free for 24 hours without the help of medications.

Meanwhile, after years of dealing with COVID, FEMA announced Wednesday it is reimbursing Santa Clara County for an additional $45 million for emergency health and safety expenditures incurred during the pandemic.