People’s CDC COVID-19 Weather Report

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The Weather

The CDC-based wastewater map was updated on August 7. It shows 15 states with “Very High” or “High” levels of SARS-CoV-2 in the wastewater, an increase from 4 states and territories. 12 states have reached “Moderate,” 18 states at “Low” levels, and 6 states at “Very Low” levels. Arizona, Guam, New York, and Oklahoma have limited coverage, meaning that data from those states are based on less than 5% of the population. There is no data for North Dakota and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The CDC has determined that national levels have risen to moderate levels. These indicators are likely showing the beginning of a summer surge in COVID infections. Due to changes with the data from the CDC, our published wastewater map has been revised to match the CDC’s six categories of wastewater levels.

As always, remember that the determination of the categories of “Very High,” “High,” “Moderate,” and “Low,” can be independent of any relationship to community transmission. Remember that even if your state’s overall levels look low, certain areas within it may have higher levels. In the last report, we discussed the differences between wastewater surveillance for the CDC and WastewaterSCAN. We continue to encourage you to check your local region here to see more detailed local data. With this potential summer surge of COVID infections, we recommend as many layers of protection as more regions are experiencing an increase in wastewater levels. 

A map of the United States color-coded in six shades of color including maroon, brown, orange, and gray displaying SARS-CoV-2 Wastewater Viral Activity levels from CDC Data last updated on August 7, 2025. Deeper tones correlate to higher viral activity and gray indicates “Insufficient,” or “No Data.” Text above the map reads “15 States and Territories have very high or high levels”. There is no data for North Dakota and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Arizona, Guam, New York, and Oklahoma have limited coverage. The deepest tones can be seen across states in the south, southeast, southwest, and west as well as in Indiana and Delaware. Lighter shades can be seen in states within the northwest, midwest, and northeastern regions of the country. At the bottom, the text reads “People’s CDC. Source: CDC.Graphic source: CDC

Wastewater trends have risen to High in the West with a slight increase in all other regions. The South is moderate, Northeast, and Midwest have risen slightly. 

A line graph’s title reads, “12 Month National COVID Wastewater Trend from data updated on August 7, 2025.” Wastewater Viral Activity Levels are indicated on the left-hand vertical axis, going from “Very Low” to “Very High”, and “Week Ending” across the horizontal axis, with date labels ranging from 08/31/24 to 08/02/25. A key at the bottom indicates line colors. National is black, Midwest is orange, South is purple, Northeast is light blue, and West is green. In the most recent weeks, the National line has risen to the moderate category. The West line has increased to the high category. This is similar to the South line, which has increased to the moderate category. The Northeast line has slightly decreased within the low category and the Midwest line has slightly increased within the low category. Text at the bottom reads “People’s CDC. Source: CDC.”

Graphic source: CDC

Emergency Room Use

The CDC is showing an ongoing increase in the proportion of Emergency Room visits that are diagnosed as COVID.

A line graph’s title reads “Percentage of ED visits diagnosed as COVID by week.” Subtitle reads, “from data updated on August 2, 2025.” The Y axis represents weekly percent (the number of ED visits diagnosed as COVID for every 100 of all ED visits) from 0 to 2.5 percent. The X axis represents weeks from June 15, 2024 to August 2, 2025. The peak is in August 2024 with COVID representing over 2.5 percent of ED visits. Then, there is a rapid trend down followed by another, smaller peak in January 2025 representing over 1.5 percent. Then, there is a gradual trend downward until May of this year, dipping to less than 0.4 percent and then gradually rising to just under 1 percent of ED visits for COVID as of July. Text above the graph reads “Emergency Department Visits Increased Substantially." Text at the bottom reads “People’s CDC. Source: CDC.”Graphic source: CDC

Take Action

Comments are due by August 13, 2025 to oppose limiting public access to public health services. RFK Jr. has plans to exclude invaluable public health services that include COVID testing and vaccines. Health and Human Services (HHS) is seeking public comments on a new policy that would limit access solely based on immigration status. This is a racist action intended to limit access to healthcare services. It is important to speak up against this as the foundation of public health is built on ensuring everyone has readily available access to healthcare services and programs. Submit a written public comment to HHS opposing this proposed policy via the Federal Register no later than August 13, 2025 at 11:59 pm Eastern Daylight Time.

Comments are due by September 2, 2025 to ensure OSHA continues to mandate COVID exposures in healthcare settings. We will provide a comprehensive set of instructions to further address this policy with a focus on ensuring healthcare acquired COVID infections are reported and prevented. Submit a written public comment to OSHA via the Federal Register no later than September 2, 2025 at 11:59 pm Eastern Daylight Time.

Senator Lisa Blunt Rochester has proposed bill S.2483 in Congress on July 28 to restore the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices ever since RFK removed expert members. Along these lines, Senator Angus King proposed resolution S.Res.343 in Congress on July 29 recognizing the importance of the US Preventive Services Task Force, in which RFK is attempting to end. Contact your elected members of Congress to express your support for both bill and resolution to restore members of ACIP and preserve the US Preventive Services Task Force.

This month of August is National Immunization Awareness and COVID vaccines remain a very important layer of protection against COVID infections. Although, access to COVID vaccines may have been limited by RFK. Learn more about these possible limitations according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. It is very important to contact your elected members of Congress to ask them for their support in ensuring universal access to COVID vaccines.

Our friends in Canada also need our help with ensuring N95 respirators are the standard in healthcare for infectious diseases with comments in support due by August 19, 2025. This standard establishes N95s and other respirators as the national standard in healthcare settings. Everyone around the world is able to submit comments in support of this policy change to protect healthcare workers and patients with comments due no later than August 19, 2025.

With the increased spread of COVID and measles in the US, we need to keep ourselves and our communities safe using KF94/KN95/N95 masking and as many layers of protection as possible. Our Safer Gathering Guide provides recommendations for safer meetings and gatherings. Please continue to share it! 

Notes: 1) The numbers in this report were current as of 8/11/2025. 2) Check out the links throughout & see our website for more at https://peoplescdc.org. 3) Subscribe to our newsletter: People’s CDC | Substack.

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

The People’s CDC is a coalition of public health practitioners, scientists, healthcare workers, educators, advocates and people from all walks of life working to reduce the harmful impacts of COVID-19.

We provide guidance and policy recommendations to governments and the public on COVID-19, disseminating evidence-based updates that are grounded in equity, public health principles, and the latest scientific literature.

Working alongside community organizations, we are building collective power and centering equity as we work together to end the pandemic. The People’s CDC is volunteer-run and independent of partisan political and corporate interests and includes anonymous local health department and other government employees. The People’s CDC is completely volunteer run with infrastructure support being provided by the People’s Science Network.

Though the People’s CDC was supported initially through a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation grant, that grant has long expired. We no longer pursue or accept grant funding. We are now entirely funded by people who donate to us. Most of these donations make their way to us through our Substack platform (which anyone can access for free!) or through purchases of People’s CDC swag. Our website now has a donate link for anonymous donations.

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