Yes, COVID-19 is still circulating. The virus never disappeared after the pandemic ended, and it continues to infect people year-round. But the picture looks very different from 2020 or 2021. As of late April 2026, national wastewater surveillance shows COVID-19 viral activity at “very low” levels across nearly every U.S. state, with a national score of 1.0 on a scale where anything up to 2.0 qualifies as very low. The World Health Organization ended its global health emergency designation back in May 2023, and COVID now behaves more like a seasonal respiratory virus with predictable rises and falls throughout the year.
How Much Virus Is Circulating Right Now
The CDC tracks COVID levels through wastewater monitoring, which catches infections regardless of whether people get tested. This makes it one of the most reliable ways to gauge how much virus is actually out there. The current national reading of 1.0 puts COVID squarely in the lowest category. For context, the CDC’s scale runs from “very low” (up to 2.0) through low, moderate, high, and “very high” (above 7.8). Spring tends to be the quietest period for COVID transmission, so these numbers are expected.
That quiet period won’t last forever. During the 2024-2025 season, COVID followed a pattern that’s become increasingly predictable: a larger summer peak and a smaller winter peak. The highest percentage of positive tests (17.9%) came in early August 2024, dropped to a low of 4.0% by mid-November, then climbed again to a second, smaller peak of 6.7% in early January 2025 before falling to its lowest point (2.7%) in late May. If this pattern holds, you can expect another uptick starting in midsummer.
COVID Now Has a Seasonal Pattern
One of the biggest shifts since the pandemic is that COVID has settled into a roughly predictable cycle. The CDC describes this as a “bimodal periodicity,” meaning two bumps per year. The summer wave tends to be larger, which catches some people off guard since we associate respiratory viruses with winter. The winter bump is real but smaller, overlapping with flu and RSV season.
The timing varies somewhat by region. During the 2024-2025 season, the summer peak arrived as early as mid-July in western states and as late as early September in parts of the mid-Atlantic and Midwest. The winter peak ranged from late November in the south-central U.S. to as late as March in the Southeast. So where you live affects when your local risk is highest.
What the Virus Looks Like Now
The virus keeps evolving. The variants currently being tracked by the WHO include descendants of the JN.1 lineage, with subvariants like KP.3.1.1 and LP.8.1 under monitoring. These names change frequently, but the key point is that SARS-CoV-2 continues to mutate in ways that help it evade some immune protection from prior infections and vaccines. This is why updated vaccines are released regularly.
Symptoms from current variants generally overlap with what most people already associate with COVID: fever or chills, cough, sore throat, congestion, fatigue, muscle aches, and headache. Loss of taste or smell still appears on the CDC’s symptom list, though it’s reported less frequently with newer variants than it was earlier in the pandemic. Shortness of breath, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea are also possible. For most vaccinated or previously infected people, symptoms tend to be mild and resolve within a week or two.
Testing Still Works, but Timing Matters
Home rapid tests remain available and useful, but a single negative result doesn’t necessarily mean you’re in the clear. The FDA recommends serial testing to reduce the chance of a false negative. If you have symptoms, test twice over three days. If you don’t have symptoms but were exposed, test three times over five days. Testing too early after exposure is the most common reason for a misleading negative result.
Vaccines Are Updated Annually
COVID vaccination now follows a pattern similar to the flu shot. The 2024-2025 vaccine was recommended for everyone aged 6 months and older, reformulated to target the strains circulating at the time. Adults 65 and older were recommended a second dose six months after their first, reflecting the faster decline in immune protection that comes with age. People with weakened immune systems may receive three or more doses in a single season based on their doctor’s guidance.
This annual update cycle is likely to continue. Because the virus keeps changing, last year’s vaccine loses effectiveness over time, much like the flu shot does. Getting the current season’s dose before the summer or winter peaks offers the best protection against severe illness.
Treatment Options for High-Risk People
Antiviral treatment is available for people who test positive and are at higher risk of becoming seriously ill. The main oral antiviral is approved for adults and adolescents over 12 (weighing at least 88 pounds) who have mild to moderate symptoms and at least one risk factor for severe disease. Risk factors include older age, obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and immune-suppressing conditions. Treatment works best when started within the first few days of symptoms, so getting tested promptly matters if you fall into a higher-risk group.
Long COVID Remains a Concern
Even mild infections can occasionally lead to symptoms that persist for months. The CDC has been tracking long COVID through household surveys since mid-2022, asking adults whether they’ve experienced symptoms lasting three months or longer after a COVID infection. While the percentage of people currently experiencing long COVID has declined from its earlier peaks, it hasn’t disappeared. Common lingering symptoms include fatigue, brain fog, shortness of breath, and sleep problems. Each new infection carries some risk of long-term symptoms, which is one reason public health officials still encourage vaccination even as acute COVID becomes less severe for most people.
The Bottom Line on Risk
COVID is no longer a public health emergency, but it’s not gone. It circulates year-round with predictable seasonal surges, it continues to evolve, and it still causes serious illness in vulnerable populations. For most healthy, vaccinated adults, the risk of severe outcomes is low. The practical steps that matter most are staying current on vaccines (especially if you’re over 65 or immunocompromised), testing when symptomatic, and seeking treatment quickly if you’re at higher risk.