Is there a COVID outbreak? Here are the CDC guidelines and current symptoms –

President Biden stood among the scores of Americans who recently tested positive for COVID-19 amid a substantial increase in summer cases across the country.

COVID infections are most likely rising in 45 states, including Illinois, and aren’t declining anywhere in the U.S., NBC News reported, citing Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. While every summer since COVID surfaced in 2020 has experienced a wave of cases, this year’s – which is evidenced by wastewater data – began earlier than in most recent years.

However, the numbers haven’t reached levels seen with other surges in the past year.

“The number of cases remains lower than the number counted during the most recent fall peak or during the small peak we saw last summer in Chicago,” Dr. Mary Hayden, director of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Rush University System for Health, told NBC Chicago.

The White House announced that President Joe Biden began experiencing mild symptoms on Wednesday after testing positive for the coronavirus.

The uptick in cases can largely be attributed to a new series of COVID strains, nicknamed the “FLiRT” variants, which are dominating across the U.S.

The variants, identified as KP.1.1, KP.3 and KP.2, collectively make up more than 55% of COVID cases in the U.S., per the CDC’s most recent variant proportions data. KP.3, in particular, made up the most cases of any variant at 24.5% of cases, the data revealed.

Similarly, emergency room visits tracked through June 29 showed COVID-related visits were up 18% from the previous week. As cases climb, here’s everything you need to know – including a breakdown of the most prevalent variants, which symptoms are being heavily reported and what does the CDC recommend for those infected with COVID?

What are the COVID FLiRT variants?

The variants are subvariants of JN.1, which rose to dominance in December 2023 and was labeled a “variant of concern,” though the “FLiRT” variants have two changes in the spike protein compared to JN.1.

“The two changes in spike have been observed in earlier lineages, including XBB.1.5 lineages, which were dominant throughout 2023 and the basis for the 2023–2024 vaccine formulation,” the CDC reported.

Health officials said that while there are no indicators the new strains cause more severe illness than other strains, the “CDC will continue to monitor community transmission of the virus and how vaccines perform against this strain.”

Megan L. Ranney, dean of the Yale School of Public Health, told WebMD the spike protein changes are concerning.

Are FLiRT variants more contagious?

The KP.3 variant quickly rose to dominance, overtaking KP.2 as the most prevalent strain in the U.S. in a matter of weeks, the CDC reported.

“It’s still early days, but the initial impression is that this variant is rather transmissible,” Dr. William Schaffner, professor of infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, told TODAY.com.

Some lab studies suggest the FLiRT variants may be mutated enough that previous vaccination or immunity from prior infection likely won’t provide total protection, Schaffner said.

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