The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says a surge of COVID-19 may have started this summer as more cases are being reported, as well as an increase in emergency room visits and hospitalizations.

Nationwide, COVID-19 related hospitalizations are up 12% in the last week, says The Hill. However, in two places in Texas (Navarro and Freestone counties) hospitalizations were up 25% in a single week —meaning they more than tripled.

According to CNN’s medical analyst Dr. Leana Wen, an emergency physician and professor of health policy and management at the George Washington University Milken Institute School of Public Health, the increase cases in summer follows a pattern we’ve been tracking for four years.

“One of the reasons for a rise in cases during summer may be that people get together indoors when the weather is very hot,” she says. “This could also explain why there are increases in infections around holidays, when people gather in larger groups in enclosed spaces.” Wen notes that the current increase is not due to the emergence of a new variant. “According to the CDC, all existing variants are offshoots of the omicron strain, which first emerged in 2021.”

Wen says that healthy people who have already contracted COVID-19 or have been vaccinated — or both — should carry on their normal daily routines knowing they are less likely to suffer severe illness. However, the expert says they could indeed contract the virus.

“People in this category should know that if infections are on the rise, they are more likely to contract the coronavirus, but they probably won’t need to change their day-to-day lives because avoiding infection is no longer their goal,” she says.

Older individuals and those with underlying medical conditions, such as chronic lung, kidney and heart problems, should make sure they are current with their boosters. This group of people should also have a conversation with their healthcare practitioners about what to do if they become ill. Patients should ask if they are eligible for Paxlovid, the antiviral treatment, and where they can get it. If they aren’t eligible, they should ask for alternative treatments.

“People who are at especially high risk of infection should also consider wearing a well-fitting, high-quality mask while in crowded indoor spaces,” Wen advises. These people should also wear masks during summer travel and choose to dine in outdoor settings. She recommends bringing at-home COVID-19 tests with you while traveling and know where to access treatment.

Wen says people can wait to get the updated booster, which federal officials say will be available in late September or early October that will target the XBB variants of omicron, the dominant strains currently infecting people. However high-risk people who didn’t get the bivalent booster that was released in the fall of 2022 may consider getting that shot now, after consulting with their doctors.