agrobacter via Getty Images Since the pandemic started, we've seen a surge of COVID infections during the summer months. We don’t typically associate hot weather with viral illnesses, but COVID has thwarted that in recent years. This summer seems to be no exception: R ecent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that COVID test positivity rates and emergency room visits are steadily rising, especially along both coasts .
The culprit: the FLiRT variants. This family of variants, which evolved from omicron, took off in the spring . Now, they account for over 50% of infections.
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, the medical director of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases, this year’s summer wave got an early start ― and it doesn’t appear to be slowing down anytime soon. “I suspect it’s going to increase,” Hopkins told HuffPost. “It seems like we’re seeing more and more states showing increased levels of activity.
” Here’s what to know about the summer COVID spike: What’s up with the new FLiRT variants? The FLiRT variants are offshoots of JN.1 , which was the dominant variant in the U.S.
this past winter. Advertisement This family of variants appears to be very contagious, thanks to mutations in the spike protein that may improve the virus’s ability to bind to human cells. “When we look at their molecular profile, some of those mutations potentially could allow the [virus] to escape from previous .