U.S. cases of COVID are again ticking up from the high plateau they’ve sat at most of the year. Transmission of the virus is “substantial” or “high” in nearly 75% of U.S. counties, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
When COVID cases fail to drop into low-level valleys after mountainous peaks, it’s tough to tell when a new wave is starting. But as cases of once globally dominant BA.5 taper off, new variants like the BQ family are gaining ground in the U.S. and elsewhere.
