July 8, 2024- According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the spread of COVID-19 has officially reached “high” levels across Western U.S. states. Levels of the virus have been shown to have been on the rise in certain parts of the country, according to recent CDC statistics. The CDC and other health organizations have increasingly relied on analyzing samples from sewers to get a sense of COVID-19 trends, now that cases are largely no longer being tested or reported. The CDC also relies on data from emergency rooms and hospitals to track the virus, according to the CDC and CBS News. The virus in waste water across the U.S. has remained low, but figures from the most recent weeks show this key COVID-19 trend has now passed above the threshold that the agency considers to be “high” levels of the virus. Previous years has also seen COVID-19 cases increase in the summer months, according to the CDC. Hawaii and Arizona have seen the highest levels thus far.