People’s CDC COVID-19 Weather Report

The Weather

On April 24th, the People’s CDC hosted an online panel event about protecting patients from getting sick and from being deported, through mask and vaccine advocacy, and working together to get ICE out of our hospitals. This panel was recorded and is available on our website. During the event, we also shared our Pledge to Protect Our Patients. This pledge can be signed by healthcare workers who promise to keep their patients safe and push their workplaces to do more to protect patients’ and workers’ health.  

Although the Trump administration has removed important health information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), including US health data, you can still find archived CDC content saved by other groups prior to the changes. The COVID.gov and COVIDtest.gov websites continue to feature false and misleading information. We continue to pay attention to how this administration shares false scientific data and are concerned about how potentially missing or wrong data is guiding disease prevention efforts. 

The most recent CDC national wastewater map, updated on May 1, 2025, shows data from April 20th to April 26th of this year. Using the People’s CDC’s warm-toned version of the map, we see that Minnesota and Missouri have high levels of COVID in wastewater. Six other states have limited data, meaning that data from those states is based on not enough data, in this case, less than 5% of the population. There is no data for North Dakota and the US Virgin Islands. The CDC says that national levels are “low,” with the Midwest having the highest levels right now. 

Graphic source: CDC

Wastewater trends show that the US is seeing no changes in the amount of COVID in wastewater levels across the country. All regions in the US are seeing stable levels. However, we expect levels to potentially rise again as the summer season approaches.

Note, this modeling uses data from emergency department visits to estimate COVID transmission’s Rt , Rt  is an estimate of the average number of new infections caused by each infectious person. An Rt  greater than 1.0 indicates that infections are growing, while an Rt less than 1.0 indicates that they’re declining. 

Wastewater COVID National and Regional Trends

Graphic source: CDC

As always, remember that the determination of the categories of “Very High,” “High,” “Moderate,” “Low,” and “Very Low” is separate from any relationship to community transmission. In other words, these categories do not exactly tell you how likely you are to get sick in a specific place. Instead, wastewater data is best suited to show whether COVID levels are going up or down in your area, and how they compare to other times during the pandemic. 

Wastewater data is still important for keeping track of communities’ health risks and infection levels. The need is high for ongoing wastewater data collection, and our current tools are threatened with funding cuts. States like California are trying to pass laws like the Wastewater Surveillance legislation, which would ensure a consistent way for other states to work together to protect this important public health system. It is important to note that some wastewater sites have high and very high levels of activity. Please check the COVID activity levels for your area by selecting your state here.

If county-level wastewater data is not available in your area, call your governor, state senators, and assembly to ask for it! The website ROADMAP, which shares information on how to find government funding to make wastewater collection better, has a list of funding options for state, local, tribal, and territorial governments and non-profit organizations.  

Hospitalizations

The webpage, COVID-NET, is where the CDC’s watches and shares information about how many people are in the hospital sick with COVID. It looks at information from about 34 million people, which is about 1 out of every 10 people in the US. The data shows that most people continue to go to the hospital with COVID during the winter and summer months. This week, fewer people went to the hospital because of COVIDs, and the number is expected to continue to go down more in May. The numbers only count people who likely went to the hospital mainly because of being sick with COVID.

Graphic source: CDC’s COVID-NET Covid-19 Hospitalization Surveillance Network

Wins

The government said it will give money to the Women’s Health Initiative after many people shared their upset from defunding the research. The Women’s Health Initiative is a large study that started in 1991. Paid for by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) and other NIH institutes, it looks at ways to help keep older women healthy.

Harvard is still standing up to the Trump administration, even though there are threats to take away its special tax status. The government is telling universities that they might lose money unless they do not follow certain new rules that the Trump administration has created. These rules hurt free speech and research. More universities should be brave like Harvard and say no to these demands.

Vaccines

People’s CDC supports the need for continuing universal, meaning easy and free, access to COVID vaccines. This June, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) will vote on who should be able to get the COVID vaccine. If they make it harder to get the vaccine this next fall, only people at very high risk might be able to get it, but the truth is anyone can get very sick or have Long COVID so it’s important that everyone has a chance to get the shot. We will share specific ways you can help speak out by the end of May or early June, after the ACIP vote. Also, the Trump administration may try to make it harder to get new COVID vaccines in the future. It is important to have different vaccine options. Recently, the Department of Health and Human Services started giving money again to a study working on a pill-version of the COVID vaccine.

Right now, anyone –especially older adults– can still get a COVID vaccine from local pharmacies and clinics. You can go to the Vaccines.gov website and type in your zip code to find a place near you to get your updated shot.

Long COVID 

A new report found that nearly 4 out of every 10 healthcare workers who got COVID still have long COVID. Another study shows that many healthcare workers are still feeling very tired and stressed since the pandemic started. Being able to work from home or have a mix of home and office work is still really helpful for them.

Take Action

One of the most important things we can do right now is to speak up because public health is under attack. 

Here’s how everyone can help:

• Support public health by writing to your lawmakers and asking them to “prioritize public health funding in fiscal year 2026” using the American Public Health Association’s online form. 
• Bring back the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), which helps keep workers safe, but was recently cut. Call your elected leaders and write to members of Congress demanding they bring back NIOSH immediately
• Support HICPAC, a group that gives advice on stopping the spread of sickness in healthcare. Email the President and your elected members of Congress to tell them that the Healthcare Infection Control Practices Advisory Committee (HICPAC) should be kept and to make sure N95 masks are the main protection against people getting sick from diseases like COVID.
• Say no to mask bans in New York. Use this toolkit from COVID Advocacy NY to speak out against the proposed mask ban. 

For healthcare workers, hospital workers, and researchers:

• As announced during our webinar last week, sign the Pledge to Protect Our Patients, sharing that you will fight to keep your patients safe and ask your workplace or hospital to do way more to protect both patients and healthcare workers.
• Sign the “Code Blue for Democracy” open letter from a growing group of healthcare workers and researchers across the country. It asks hospitals and universities to stand up for science and democracy! Science, healthcare, and academic freedom are under attack by the Trump administration and those working with them.

Other Viruses and Health Risks

Measles 

The measles outbreak is still happening. As of May 1, 2025, the CDC says there were 935 confirmed cases in 2025. That is 135 more cases (over 16% increase) since our last Weather Report two weeks ago. Most of the patients in these cases who got measles (96%) did not have the Measles, Mumps, and Rubella (MMR) vaccine or we don’t know if they did. Only 2% had one dose, and 2% had two doses. 

To keep measles from spreading, at least 95 out of every 100 people need to get the MMR vaccine. But during the 2023 – 2024 school year, fewer than 95 out of every 100 kindergartners received an MMR vaccine. 

At least half of the public are unsure if what they hear about the MMR vaccine is true. We need to keep sharing that the MMR vaccine is safe and works well and is our most helpful way to stop the spread of MMR. A recent Health Alert Network for everyone who is traveling should make sure they are up to date on their MMR shots, no matter where they are going. This alert also gives more advice for people living in outbreak areas and what to do if you think you might have measles.

Bird Flu 

Bird flu (H5N1) is still spreading in wild birds, chickens, and cows. In the last 30 days, 48 new cases were found in dairy cows. There are at least 70 known people in the US who have gotten bird flu. So far, it has not spread from person to person, but that could happen if more people get sick. Continuing to check wastewater is very important for understanding where bird flu is spreading.

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Notes: 1) The numbers in this report were current as of 5/1/2025. 2) Check out the links throughout & see our website for more at https://peoplescdc.org. 3) Subscribe to our newsletter: People’s CDC | Substack