The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said in a new update that COVID-19 cases are growing or likely growing in 19 states, while influenza levels are on the rise in 42 states.
The CDC said on Nov. 19 that cases of COVID-19 are also declining or likely declining in four states. For the other 22 states, levels have not changed, it said.
States where COVID-19 was confirmed to have been growing include New Mexico, Colorado, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Mississippi, Indiana, Michigan, West Virginia, and Pennsylvania. And states where cases with a likely growing number of cases include Texas, Kansas, Louisiana, South Dakota, Missouri, Iowa, Kentucky, South Carolina, Vermont, and Massachusetts.
Cases were declining or likely declining California, Hawaii, Maine, and Washington, according to the health agency.
Overall, COVID-19 activity in the United States is considered by the CDC to be low, according to an update issued on Nov. 21. A separate update based on CDC data on wastewater virus levels issued earlier this month stated that virus levels were “very low.”
For influenza, national activity is also considered to be low but is increasing, the agency said last week.
According to a Nov. 18 update published by the CDC, the agency estimated that in states reporting influenza data, flu levels are rising or likely rising in 42 states, likely declining or declining in no states, and not changing in two states.
Vaccination rates for COVID-19 have continued to plummet, with about 6 percent of children and 14 percent of adults receiving the most recent shots, according to other CDC data posted on Nov. 21. Each figure is about 3 percentage points lower than it was at this point last fall.
Language included on the CDC’s website states, “Parents of children ages 6 months to 17 years should discuss the benefits of vaccination with a healthcare provider.”
In August, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) authorized COVID-19 vaccines for the 2025–2026 fall and winter virus season, encompassing the shots made by Pfizer, Moderna, and Novavax. At the same time, the agency withdrew its emergency authorization for the shots, with a senior FDA official saying that the risk posed by COVID-19 has decreased significantly since the pandemic’s initial years.
The latest CDC data indicate that for children, the vaccination rate for influenza this year is about the same as it was at this point last fall, at 34.4 percent. And the vaccination rate for adults is up a few percentage points to about 37.2 percent, according to the CDC data, which relies on survey information.
As of the beginning of November, the U.S. flu hospitalization rate was about the same as it was at the same point in 2024. Hospitalization rates for COVID-19 and another respiratory virus, RSV, are lower so far this season, according to another set of CDC data.
This comes as officials in Washington state said late last week that the first person to have been infected with the H5N5 avian influenza strain has died. That individual, described as an “older adult with underlying health complications” who lived in a county located along the Pacific Ocean, had a backyard flock of different types of birds, officials said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
