As of late February 2026, overall respiratory virus activity in New Jersey is rated low by the CDC, though individual viruses are moving in different directions. Influenza is declining, while RSV and COVID-19 have ticked slightly upward in recent weeks. Here’s what’s circulating and what to watch for.
Influenza Is Declining
Flu activity has been dropping steadily across New Jersey. Case counts, emergency department visits, test positivity, and even viral levels detected in wastewater all fell compared to earlier in the season. If you managed to avoid the flu through the winter peak, your odds are improving as the season winds down, though the virus is still circulating at some level.
RSV Is Still Elevated
RSV (respiratory syncytial virus) is the one to watch right now. Hospitalizations ticked up slightly in early February, and test positivity remains elevated. The people most affected are at the extremes of age: children under 5 and adults 65 and older. For most healthy adults and older children, RSV causes cold-like symptoms that resolve on their own. But in very young kids and older adults, it can progress to more serious lower respiratory infections that need hospital care.
Symptoms typically start with a runny nose, cough, and low fever. In infants, watch for difficulty breathing, poor feeding, or unusual irritability. In older adults, RSV can look a lot like the flu, with fatigue, wheezing, and worsening of existing lung or heart conditions.
COVID-19 Is Circulating at Moderate Levels
COVID-19 hospital admissions in New Jersey increased slightly in recent weeks, though they remain lower than the same period last year. Hospitalizations continue to be concentrated among people 65 and older. The predominant variant circulating in the state is XFG, an Omicron-lineage subvariant.
Wastewater surveillance, which tracks viral particles in sewage to estimate how much virus is spreading in a community, shows moderate COVID-19 activity statewide for the week ending February 21. Wastewater data often picks up trends before hospital numbers do, so moderate readings suggest the virus is actively circulating even if case counts look manageable. Current symptoms from Omicron-lineage variants tend to resemble a bad cold or flu: sore throat, congestion, fatigue, body aches, and sometimes a cough that lingers for a couple of weeks.
No Major Outbreaks of Other Viruses
New Jersey’s public health alert system has not flagged any unusual outbreaks of measles, pertussis, or other non-respiratory viruses as of mid-February 2026. The most recent public notice from the state health department involved a voluntary recall of a rabies vaccine used at animal clinics, which is unrelated to human illness. That said, the usual stomach bugs (norovirus in particular) tend to circulate during winter months and can cause vomiting and diarrhea that spreads quickly through households and schools.
How to Tell Which Virus You Have
The symptoms of flu, RSV, and COVID-19 overlap heavily, which makes it difficult to identify the culprit without a test. All three can cause fever, cough, congestion, and fatigue. A few patterns can help narrow things down. Flu tends to hit suddenly, with high fever and severe body aches. COVID-19 more often starts with a scratchy throat and may involve loss of taste or smell, though that’s less common with recent variants. RSV in adults usually feels like a lingering chest cold with wheezing.
Combination tests that check for flu, COVID-19, and RSV simultaneously are available at many pharmacies and urgent care clinics. At-home rapid tests for COVID-19 remain widely available, though they’re most accurate when taken a day or two after symptoms begin rather than at the very first sign of illness.
Protecting Yourself This Season
With flu winding down but RSV and COVID-19 still active, the basics still apply. Wash your hands frequently, especially after being in crowded indoor spaces. If you’re sick, staying home while symptomatic prevents spreading whatever you have to others.
COVID-19 vaccines are available at pharmacies and clinics throughout New Jersey, and the state health department recommends that everyone 6 months and older stay up to date. Vaccine protection fades over time, so if your last dose was more than several months ago, a booster can restore some of that protection heading into the tail end of respiratory virus season. Flu shots are also still available, though their benefit narrows as influenza activity declines. For RSV, vaccines are available for adults 60 and older and for pregnant individuals (to protect newborns), and a preventive antibody treatment exists for infants entering their first RSV season.