Another summer COVID surge is here, but does it matter? What to know

COVID-19 is on the upswing again and levels of the virus are “very high” throughout the country, including in D.C. and Maryland, data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show.

America saw an increase in COVID cases last summer, too, but a lot has changed since then. The ever-evolving variants, guidance from health officials and behaviors of people around us can be confusing, to say the least.

So, how do we navigate through this latest surge? Should we worry about COVID anymore? Are the symptoms of the latest variants any different? Should people still test themselves? Are rapid tests reliable? Do you need to stay home if you get the virus?

News4 spoke to several health and infectious disease experts to get answers to those questions and more.

Check this guide for continuing updates as new information comes out.

Does COVID still matter? Isn't it just like getting a cold at this point?

“So, COVID does matter still, it just doesn't matter in the same way that it did two years ago or three years ago, but it definitely matters because we always care about getting sick. Getting sick is never good,” said Dr. Emily Smith, an associate professor for The Milken Institute School of Public Health at George Washington University.

For the vast majority of people, COVID has become another respiratory virus to contend with, said Dr. Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease expert and senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. But, at the same time, the virus still hospitalizes and even kills some people.

“If you're somebody that just had a brand new lung transplant, yes, you should care. If you're a healthy 18-year-old, it's probably less important to you. Each person is going to be impacted by COVID uniquely. No two cases are the same,” he said.

Adalja said it’s natural for the virus to be less disruptive to people’s lives with each successive wave in cases.

“This is what happens with endemic respiratory viruses, is that they become something that are part of the human condition … a risk that you take anytime you interact with humans, and because of the tools that we have with vaccines, with home tests, with antivirals, with wastewater monitoring — actually more tools than we have for any other respiratory virus — it's much more manageable for the vast majority of the population,” Adalja said.

Dr. Pragna Patel, chief medical officer at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services/Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, told News4 that it’s important for people to stay vigilant as more information continues to come out about COVID’s long-term health effects.

Newly released CDC data from 2022 show that more than 10% of adults living with disabilities experienced symptoms of long COVID and those symptoms were more common among adults with disabilities than those without disabilities.

Why are we seeing another summertime COVID surge?

Health experts say three things have combined to make the perfect summer COVID storm: stealthy new variants that can evade immune systems, declining immunity in the population and extreme heat that’s pushed more people indoors.

Similar to how respiratory viruses spread during the winter, when many people gather inside for the holidays and to keep warm, COVID also tends to make waves in the summer as people go inside to escape the heat.

“It's been so hot and so we're inside, we're traveling, we're at summer weddings,” Smith said.

“I think three years ago, two years ago, we were thinking maybe we'd stop seeing this summer wave, but it's back again, and I do think part of it is that this virus is really good at infecting other people inside, and so hot, hot days and summer fun seems to be at least partly responsible for the waves we're seeing,” Smith said.

Where do we stand with COVID rates and hospitalizations?

COVID appears to be surging throughout the summer in different regions of the country, with CDC data showing infections growing or likely growing in 42 states and territories in mid July.

Now, as of Aug. 16, COVID infections are growing or likely growing in 27 states and territories, including Washington, D.C., the CDC estimates. Infections are stable or uncertain in Maryland, Virginia and 15 other states, while declining or likely declining in four states.

Wastewater samples have shown "very high" viral activity levels in D.C. and Maryland for much of the summer. There are a total of 29 states and territories with very high wastewater levels as of Aug. 22, which is up from 22 states and territories with that ranking in mid July. Virginia’s COVID activity is in the "high" range.

Nationally, the wastewater viral activity level for COVID rose from "high" in mid July to "very high," as of Aug. 22.

While wastewater samples are an indication of the virus' spread, they don't necessarily correlate with more hospitalizations, Patel said.

“With this surge, we're not seeing an increase in hospitalizations or deaths, and so that's very reassuring,” she said.

Emergency departments in Maryland and Virginia have seen an increase in patients with COVID in recent weeks, data show.

"Our main indicator for monitoring COVID-19 activity is looking at our emergency department visits. So, right now about 3.3% of all of our emergency department visits are diagnosed with COVID-19. That's up from 1.2%, which was at the beginning of the summer and early June," Mandy Burton with the Fairfax County Health Department told News4 on July 18.

What are the dominant COVID variants right now?

Since the end of March, KP.3 or "FLiRT" lineage viruses have been rising, and in early June, they overtook KP.2 as the predominant variants, the CDC said.

Recently, KP.3.1.1 has overtaken KP.3 and is currently the only major variant increasing in proportion nationally, according to the CDC.

KP.3.1.1, a descendant of the highly contagious omicron subvariant JN.1, is predicted to account for between 31% and 43% of COVID-19 clinical specimens for the two-week period ending on Aug. 17, CDC estimates show. The variant accounted for 20% and 26% of clinical specimens for the previous two weeks.

Are the symptoms any different with FLiRT variants?

“The symptoms that are caused when someone is infected with a FLiRT variant are pretty much indistinguishable from any other version of this virus,” Adalja said. “There's a spectrum of symptoms that people can have and they vary from person to person. But in general, any type of upper respiratory symptom such as a cough, a sore throat, runny nose and then muscle aches … and pains, fevers — all of that can be part of that same constellation that we've gotten familiar with with COVID-19.”

As a reminder, typical symptoms include:

• sore throat
• cough
• fatigue
• congestion
• runny nose
• headache
• muscle aches
• fever or chills
• new loss of sense of taste or smell
• shortness of breath or difficulty breathing
• nausea or vomiting
• diarrhea

Do the new COVID vaccines work on the latest variants?

Updated COVID-19 shots from Moderna and Pfizer target a strain called KP.2, a descendant of the highly contagious omicron subvariant JN.1 that began circulating widely in the U.S. earlier this year. KP.2 was the dominant strain in May, but now only accounts for roughly 3% of all U.S. cases.

Pfizer and Moderna have said the vaccines can produce stronger immune responses against other circulating subvariants of JN.1, such as KP.3 and LB.1, than last year's round of shots targeting the omicron strain XBB.1.5 can.

The CDC is recommending people get the newest vaccine to protect against severe disease this fall and winter.

"The vaccines do prevent severe outcomes. They prevent, you know, hospitalizations, they prevent deaths, and as mentioned, hopefully, you know, prevent need for any sort of medical care or even your doctor's office or urgent care, although, if you're feeling unwell, it's never wrong to go to the doctor's office to get checked out," Dr. Alexandra Yonts with Children's National Hospital told News4.

What is the CDC’s guidance now for isolation?

The CDC updated its isolation guidance earlier this year and no longer recommends people stay home for five days after testing positive for COVID, regardless of their symptoms.

Instead, the CDC says people should stay home and away from others if they have symptoms or test positive for the virus, but they can return to normal activities once they’ve been fever-free for 24 hours – without the help of fever-reducing medications.

“We're basically saying that if you … are fever-free for 24 hours and your symptoms have improved, then you can stop isolating,” Patel said. “We do think that you should be careful for the five days after you stop isolating. Meaning, if you are going back to work and you're going to be in a meeting with colleagues, it may be important to sit far away or to mask because we know that the people keep shedding the virus and are infectious even after they stop having a fever.”

Other recommendations from the CDC include:

• Take steps to improve ventilation at home
• Enhance hygiene practices and wash hands often
• Wear a well-fitting mask if you must be around others at home and in public
• Keep a distance from others
• Continue testing for the virus

Can rapid tests detect the latest COVID variants?

Yes, infectious disease experts agree that rapid tests are still a reliable method of testing for COVID – even as new variants develop.

“The rapid test does work for any of these variants because what the rapid test is looking for is a part of the virus that's not really mutating that much,” Adalja said. “When we talk about variants, we're talking about the mutations that are occurring in its spike protein. The antigen test is not looking for the spike protein; it's looking for a different part of the virus.”

That said, Adalja explained that timing and frequency play important roles in getting accurate results from at-home tests.

“[The rapid test] might be negative in the early days of symptoms because your symptoms are being driven by your immune system and not so much the virus, and the virus has to reach a certain level to turn a rapid test positive,” he said. “So if you are having symptoms and you're testing negative on a rapid test, you could test again in a couple of days, you could get a PCR test or this might be a totally different virus and you might need to be tested for another type of virus or it could be something like a bacterial infection, like strep throat.”

What are the guidelines for when to take a rapid test?

According to Covid.gov, people should take an at-home test when:

• They start having COVID symptoms like fever, sore throat, runny nose or loss of taste or smell
• At least five days after coming into close contact with someone with COVID-⁠19
• Before gathering with a group of people, especially if the group includes someone who is at risk of severe disease or who might not be up-to-date on their vaccines

Many tests have extended expiration dates. Go here for information on authorized at-home test diagnostic tests and expiration dates.

Does my insurance cover the cost of at-home rapid COVID tests?

Most insurance plans are required to cover the cost of up to eight at-home tests without a prescription every 30 days, according to CVS.

National pharmacy chains like Walgreens and CVS allow customers to file a claim online to see if their insurance providers cover rapid tests.

What treatments should I consider if I test positive for COVID?

While you're recovering, be sure to rest, drink lots of fluids and monitor your symptoms.

People who are older or at high risk of getting very sick from COVID should talk to their doctor about treatments for the virus that can reduce their chances of hospitalization or death, the CDC advises.

“So if somebody has symptoms, even if they're mild symptoms, an older adult, for example, people who are greater than 65 years of age, people who might have weakened immune systems, people who have chronic diseases like heart disease, lung disease, obesity, diabetes, chronic kidney disease at any age, might be eligible for treatment,” Patel said. “And these folks should not delay getting in touch with their health care provider, who might want to do a test and initiate treatment as soon as possible to keep them out of the hospital.”

Antiviral medications such as Paxlovid and Remdesivir work by stopping the virus from spreading and growing within the body. Here's more information about antiviral treatments.

What can I do to prevent getting COVID?

Ways to prevent getting COVID and spreading the virus include: getting vaccinated; practicing good hand hygiene; wearing masks in crowded places; gathering outdoors and improving ventilation by opening windows or using portable filters.

“If you're somebody that's high-risk for COVID-19 complications and you're in a crowded, congregated area, you should recognize that that virus is probably in that room with you and you could think about wearing an appropriate mask in those situations,” Adalja said.