FILE - Customers wear face masks to protect against the spread of the coronavirus as they shop at the Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia, Feb. 16, 2022. COVID cases are starting to rise again in the United States, with numbers up in most states and up steeply in several. One expert says he expects more of a “bump” than the monstrous surge of the first omicron wave, but another says it’s unclear how high the curve will rise and it may be more like a hill. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
It’s not over: COVID-19 cases are on the rise again in US
By Laura Ungar/AP
Matt Rourke / AP
FILE - Customers wear face masks to protect against the spread of the coronavirus as they shop at the Reading Terminal Market in Philadelphia, Feb. 16, 2022. COVID cases are starting to rise again in the United States, with numbers up in most states and up steeply in several. One expert says he expects more of a “bump” than the monstrous surge of the first omicron wave, but another says it’s unclear how high the curve will rise and it may be more like a hill. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)
The U.S. may be heading into another COVID-19 surge, with cases rising nationally and in most states after a two-month decline.
Experts don’t know how high the mountain will grow, but they don’t expect a peak nearly as high as the last one, when the contagious omicron version of the coronavirus spread through the population.
Still, experts warn the coming wave will wash across the nation and push up hospitalizations in a growing number of states, especially those with low vaccination rates, in the coming weeks.
Most cases are now being caused by a subvariant known as BA.2 that is thought to be 30% more contagious.
