COVID-19 cases surge amid the holiday season, according to the Centers for Disease Control. In their recent wastewater analysis, CDC reports a high level of COVID-19 in almost every state.

As of early December 22, many of the states in the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic show “very high” levels of COVID-19 strains; while California, Colorado, Alabama, Kansas, Nevada, New York, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Virginia are marked as “high”.

The levels spiked to 10.55 in the Midwest states on December 9, while the Northeast followed with 9.45, South (7.26), and West (5.24). These numbers surpassed last year’s data.

This wastewater analysis is one of the CDC’s methods of tracking contagions as there has been a drop in people testing for the virus or reporting to their local or state health officials.

“People are detecting it in wastewater at as high a rate as they were detecting omicron when it first emerged,” remarked Kanta Subbarao, director of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza in Melbourne.