State officials are seeing the early signs of a new surge of coronavirus cases — only they’re not hitting everyone.
Is there a new COVID-19 surge?
Officials suggest that younger people are spreading the novel coronavirus and creating a new surge of cases, CNN reports.
Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health, told CNN that older people are avoiding this surge — for the most part — because of vaccinations.
- “People over 65, a large proportion of them, have been vaccinated, are protected. That’s one of the reasons we have not seen a huge spike in hospitalizations,” Jha told CNN. “A lot of the spread is happening among younger people ... that’s the group that is moving around, kind of relaxing, getting infected.”
However, Jha said the COVID-19 cases have jumped because of spring break and states reopening too quickly.
- “We’re weeks away from a point where we can begin to do these things a bit more safely, but I think states have just moved too fast,” Jha told CNN.
So far, about 50.5 million people — which is about 15.5% of the U.S. population — has received the full COVID-19 vaccination, according to NPR.
Where is the new COVID-19 surge happening?
Multiple states have reported an increase in COVID-19 cases in recent weeks.
- Florida — a hot spot for the spring break weather — has seen rising COVID-19 cases, especially among younger people, according to The New York Times.
- New York and New Jersey reported rising coronavirus infection rates recently, according to The Associated Press.
- CNN reports that Michigan officials believe they are already in the middle of a COVID-19 surge, too.
The cases have jumped likely due to new variants making their way through those highly populated areas and because of reopening measures, Axios reports.