Covid-19 levels are high in a fifth of U.S. counties, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s metric based on case and hospital data, a share that has been mostly rising since mid-April. BA.5 is estimated to represent more than half of recent U.S. cases that are averaging just more than 100,000 a day, CDC data show. The true number of infections may be roughly six times as high, some virus experts said, in part because so many people are using at-home tests state health departments largely don’t track.

“We think we’re in a very high level of community transmission, second only to the Omicron peak from the wintertime,” said Jeffrey Duchin, health officer for the public-health agency covering Seattle and King County, Wash…

The pace of hospital admissions for Covid-19-positive patients has recently sped up, federal data indicate. The seven-day moving average for confirmed Covid-19 patients in hospitals has topped 33,000, federal data show, up from a low near 10,000 in April but far below January’s record peak topping 150,000.

Many of the hospitalizations are cases where patients test positive after being admitted for other reasons. Data indicate the portion of Covid-19 patients who need intensive care remains low. Deaths have continued hovering around roughly 300 a day, much closer to historic lows than highs.