The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday said COVID-19 activity is “increasing” across the United States although its levels are still considered “very low” overall.
“As of August 26, 2026, we estimate that COVID-19 infections are growing or likely growing in 48 states, declining or likely declining in zero states, and not changing in two states,” the CDC said on Friday.
Overall community viral activity levels, or a measurement of the virus in wastewater levels, for COVID-19 is considered by the CDC to be “very low.” Emergency department visits were also considered “very low,” which is the lowest ranking on the CDC’s website, with “very high” being the top.
According to a Friday update on the CDC’s website, wastewater data show that COVID-19 activity is “very high” in Texas and “high” in Mississippi.
“Moderate” levels were observed in California, Florida, Hawaii, Louisiana, Nevada, South Carolina, and West Virginia. All other states were listed as either “very low,” “low,” or there was limited or no data.
Another map provided by the CDC on Friday shows that COVID-19 levels were either “growing” or “likely growing” in every state where data was available.
Influenza levels are also growing nationwide, according to the CDC. There was no change in levels for RSV, or respiratory syncytial virus, on a week-to-week basis.
“RSV activity is very low in most areas of the country,” the CDC said on a webpage broadly dedicated to respiratory viruses in the United States, adding that “seasonal influenza activity is low.”
Texas saw “very high” levels of COVID-19, marked in dark purple, while Mississippi, marked in red, is experiencing “high” levels of the virus in a CDC map provided on Aug. 28, 2026. Orange represents “moderate” levels, green means “low,” and light blue means “very low.” (U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
Meanwhile, infections caused by the Mycoplasma pneumoniae bacteria, sometimes called “walking pneumonia,” are low in most areas across the United States, and infections caused by the pertussis bacteria, known as “whooping cough,” are at lower levels than seen post-pandemic, the CDC said.
The latest figures and estimations published by the CDC come as the Food and Drug Administration approved Moderna, Novavax-Sanofi, and Pfizer-BioNTech’s updated COVID-19 vaccines, the companies said on Thursday, after a CDC advisory panel recommended that the shots should target the dominant XFG variant.
Uptake of COVID-19 vaccines has dropped in recent years. Just 17.5 percent of adults and 10 percent of children received a shot in late 2025 and early 2026, according to figures from the CDC.
This month, the Chinese CDC reported more than half a million COVID-19 cases in July, a sharp increase from June’s figures. In July, 522,000 cases were reported, up from the 443,000 cases that were reported in the previous month.
Experts who are familiar with local conditions in China told The Epoch Times they suspect there are far more cases of the virus, which is believed to have originated in or around the Chinese city of Wuhan in late 2019 before sparking a worldwide pandemic, than the Chinese regime is reporting publicly.
Zachary Stieber contributed to this report.