More than half of U.S. states are reporting “very high” levels of COVID activity as the virus continues to spread and increase in many parts of the country, according to the latest wastewater data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
At least 27 states are reporting “very high” levels and 17 states are reporting “high” levels of wastewater viral activity.
The western region continues to see the highest levels followed by the South, Midwest and Northeast, respectively.
Current levels are nearing but remain lower than what they were in the winter months, when there tends to be increased spread of respiratory illnesses.
FILE – This 2020 electron microscope image made available by the Centers for Disease C…Show moreHannah A. Bullock, Azaibi Tamin/CDC via AP, File
Wastewater data comes with limitations in how well it represents spread in a community, but it may be the best data available, experts say.
“While wastewater is not a perfect measure, it’s increasingly vital in filling the gaps left by the absence of comprehensive case reporting and hospitalization data,” said Dr. John Brownstein, an epidemiologist and chief innovation officer at Boston Children’s Hospital and an ABC News contributor.
Many national surveillance systems have diminished in scope since the national public health emergency ended, leaving authorities will limited resources to monitor how the virus is spreading.
“As traditional surveillance systems have dwindled, wastewater analysis has emerged as one of the most reliable tools we have to monitor COVID-19 activity in communities,” Brownstein added.
Other limited COVID surveillance systems such as emergency department visits and test positivity are also on the rise, according to CDC data. Deaths from the virus remain relatively flat, especially compared to previous years.
Updated COVID vaccines are set to be available this fall, according to federal health authorities. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommended that vaccine manufacturers formulate shots based on the KP.2 strain, an offshoot of the omicron variant that is currently estimated to make up about 6% of cases.
Genetically similar variants, known as KP.3.1.1 and KP.3, currently make up almost half of estimated cases, CDC data shows.
The CDC has already recommended that everyone over the age of 6 months get an updated COVID vaccine this season. The recommendation will take effect as soon as the vaccines are made available, pending FDA authorization.
An expected delivery date for the updated COVID vaccines has not been shared yet, but in previous years the shot was made available in late August or September. Vaccine manufacturers have told ABC News they are ready to ship doses as soon as they receive the green light from the FDA.
Donald Trump recounted his assassination attempt in vivid detail and promised the largest deportation in U.S. history during a high-profile return to the social media platform formerly known as Twitter – a conversation that was plagued by technical glitches.
“If I had not turned my head, I would not be talking to you right now – as much as I like you,” Trump told X’s owner Elon Musk.
Musk, a former Trump critic, said the Republican nominee’s toughness, as demonstrated by his reaction to last month’s shooting, was critical for national security.
“There’s some real tough characters out there,” Musk said. “And if they don’t think the American president is tough, they will do what they want to do.”
The rare public conversation between Trump and Musk, which spanned more than two hours and was overwhelmingly friendly, revealed little new about Trump’s plans for a second term. The former president spent much of the discussion focused on his recent assassination attempt, illegal immigration and his plans to cut government regulations.
Still, the online meeting underscored just how much the U.S. political landscape has changed less than four years after Trump was permanently banned by the social media platform’s former leadership for spreading disinformation that sparked the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on Congress and undermined the very foundation of the American democracy.
Such disinformation has thrived at X under Musk’s leadership, although it was largely ignored during his conversation with Trump save for a passing Trump reference to a “rigged election.”
The session was intended to serve as a way for the former president to reach potentially millions of voters directly. It was also an opportunity for X, a platform that relies heavily on politics, to redeem itself after some struggles.
It did not begin as planned.
With more than 878,000 users connected to the meeting more than 40 minutes after the scheduled start time, the interview had not yet begun. Many users received a message reading, “Details not available.”
Trump’s team posted that the “interview on X is being overwhelmed with listeners logging in.” And once the meeting began, Musk apologized for the late start and blamed a “massive attack” that overwhelmed the company’s system. Trump’s voice sounded muffled at times.
Trump supporters were openly frustrated.
“Not available????? I planned my whole day around this,” wrote conservative commentator Glenn Beck.
“Please let Elon know we can’t join,” billionaire hedge fund manager Bill Ackman posted.
Ahead of the event, Musk posted on the platform that X was conducting “some system scaling tests” to handle what was anticipated to be a high volume of participants.
The rocky start was reminiscent of a May 2023 social media conversation between Musk and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. The Republican governor was using the social media platform as a way to officially announce his presidential bid, a disastrous rollout marred by technical glitches, overloaded by the more than 400,000 people who tried to dial in.
Trump’s Democratic rival, Vice President Kamala Harris, noted that Trump mocked DeSantis at the time.
“Wow! The DeSanctus TWITTER launch is a DISASTER! His whole campaign will be a disaster. WATCH!” Trump wrote in a message reposted by Harris’ campaign Monday.
Monday’s meeting also highlighted the evolving personal relationship between Trump and Musk, two of the world’s most powerful men, who have shifted from being bitter rivals to unlikely allies over the span of one election season.
Musk, who described himself as a “moderate Democrat” until recently, suggested in 2022 that Trump was too old to be president again. Still, Musk formally endorsed Trump two days after his assassination attempt last month.
During their talk, Trump welcomed the idea of Musk joining his next administration to help cut government waste. Musk volunteered to join a prospective “government efficiency commission.”
“You’re the greatest cutter,” Trump told Musk. “I need an Elon Musk – I need somebody that has a lot of strength and courage and smarts. I want to close up the Department of Education, move education back to the states.”
Even before his endorsement, the tech CEO had already been working privately to support a pro-Trump super PAC. The group, known as America PAC, is now under investigation by election officials for alleged misleading attempts to collect data from voters.
Meanwhile, Trump has softened his criticism of electric vehicles, citing Musk’s leadership of Tesla. And on Monday, at least, Trump returned to Musk’s social media platform in force. The former president made at least eight individual posts in the hours leading up to the Musk interview.
Long before he endorsed Trump, Musk turned increasingly toward the right in his posts and actions on the platform, also using X to try to sway political discourse around the world. He’s gotten in a dustup with a Brazilian judge over censorship, railed against what he calls the “woke mind virus” and amplified false claims that Democrats are secretly flying in migrants to vote in U.S. elections.
Musk has also reinstated previously banned accounts such as the conspiracy theorist Alex Jones and Trump, who was kicked off the platform – then known as Twitter – two days after the Jan. 6 violence, with the company citing “the risk of further incitement of violence.” By November 2022, Musk had bought the company, and Trump’s account was reinstated, although the former president refrained from tweeting until Monday, insisting that he was happier on his own Truth Social site, which he launched during the ban.
Trump’s audience on X is legions larger than on Truth Social, which became a publicly traded company earlier this year. Trump has just over 7.5 million followers on Truth Social, while his mostly dormant X account is followed by 88 million. Musk’s account, which hosted the interview, has more than 193 million followers.
In a reminder that the world was watching, the chat prompted a preemptive note of caution from Europe.
Thierry Breton, a French business executive and commissioner for internal market of the European Union, warned Musk of possible “amplification of harmful content” by broadcasting his interview with Trump. In a letter posted on X, Breton urged Musk to “ensure X’s compliance” with EU law, including the Digital Services Act, adopted in 2022 to address a number of issues including disinformation.
Trump campaign spokesman Steven Cheung urged the EU to “mind their own business instead of trying to meddle in the U.S. Presidential election.”
An annual tradition that began after the tragic 2016 murder of 11-year-old Josue Flores took place Monday morning in north Houston. State and local leaders gathered at Marshall Middle School for the 8th annual “Safe Walk Home Northside,” accompanied by the Houston Police Department and the Harris County Sheriff’s Office.
This year’s event had a festive atmosphere, featuring lively music and goody bags filled with snacks and supplies for students. Organizers emphasized the dual importance of supporting students and ensuring their safety as they return to school.
“I continue to invite everyone to be part of the group, be involved, and let’s continue doing what we’re doing for many, many years to come because the life and the journey of each student and every school district is important,” said Stella Mireles-Walters, a representative of Safe Walk Home Northside.
The family of the late Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, who was a regular participant in the event, also attended in her memory. They presented the organization’s founder with a commendation in honor of the congresswoman’s dedication to the cause.
Remembering Josue Flores
Josue Flores was walking home from school in May 2016 when he was brutally attacked and stabbed more than 20 times by Andre Jackson. During Jackson’s 2022 trial, witness Richard Guerra testified that he heard Josue pleading for his life, saying, “Please, please, don’t kill me, take anything.” Despite his efforts to survive, Josue collapsed and died on the sidewalk.
His death deeply affected the entire city, extending far beyond the northside neighborhood where the tragedy occurred. In 2022, jurors convicted Jackson of murder, sentencing him to life in prison.
Potential Storm Five remains disorganized east of the Lesser Antilles. However, this system is expected to become a tropical storm over the next day or two, and would then be named “Ernesto”. Flooding rain, strong winds and storm surge will cross the Leeward Islands Monday into Tuesday. It is possible the storm strengthens into a hurricane as it tracks near Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. After moving away from Puerto Rico, the storm is expected to further intensify east of the Bahamas, becoming at least a Category 2 hurricane as it then tracks northward towards Bermuda.
August 11 4 p.m.
The tropical wave in the Atlantic has now become Potential Storm Five this afternoon. This disturbance is still hundreds of miles away from the Caribbean but is expected to form and become likely Tropical Storm Ernesto early this week as it approaches the Leeward Islands. Potential Storm Five could then impact Puerto Rico as a tropical storm or hurricane before turning north towards Bermuda later this week. So as of now, this storm poses no threat to Houston. However, some outlying model guidance has the system tracking further west into the Caribbean, so we’ll be keeping a close eye on Potential Storm Five, soon-to-be Ernesto, as it interacts with the islands this week.
August 11 10 a.m.
We are continuing to monitor a tropical wave in the Atlantic that will likely be “Ernesto” by midweek. While development odds are up to 90%, models have been in good agreement that the storm will curve north before ever reaching the Gulf of Mexico. We’ll continue to watch it, and any other potential storms, but for now there are no immediate concerns on our radar in SE Texas.
The Army Corps of Engineers is looking into ways to mitigate flooding along Buffalo Bayou with the Harris County Flood Control District. (Shawn Arrajj/Community Impact)
The Biden-Harris Administration has awarded Houston $2 million as part of the Federal Highway Administration’s Bridge Investment Program to explore the rehabilitation of eight bridges along Buffalo Bayou. The grant, announced on August 7, will fund a feasibility and hydrology analysis to assess the potential for repairing and elevating bridges across a 15-mile stretch in Houston.
Houston City Council applied for the grant in May, with Houston Public Works submitting the formal application. The awarded funds will cover the costs associated with planning activities, including stakeholder engagement and project development.
The Bridge Investment Program, established by President Joe Biden’s Infrastructure Law in 2022, aims to address the significant backlog of bridges in need of repair across the nation. U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg highlighted the importance of these grants, stating, “The Bridge Investment Program Planning grants announced today will provide much-needed resources to communities nationwide so they can complete the plans and studies required to move forward with important bridge projects.”
To date, the program has distributed $7.4 billion to 78 projects across 38 states. This latest round of funding included $26.5 million for 28 projects in 18 states, with Texas receiving $2.6 million. Houston will receive $2 million, while the city of Boerne will receive $600,000.
Houston’s funding will be used to conduct a study determining whether the bridges can be elevated above the floodplain, thereby reducing future deterioration and preventing detours during flood events. The study will also explore improvements for bicycle and pedestrian connections.
The bridges under consideration include Kirkwood Bridge, Wilcrest Bridge, Dairy Ashford Bridge, and Sabine Bridge. The study is expected to take approximately 18 months to complete, though a construction timeline has not yet been established as of August 9.
Houston Independent School District (HISD) will kick off the upcoming school year on Monday with a few dozen teacher vacancies, a significant improvement from the thousands of openings reported at the start of the summer, according to district leaders.
To address the 47 unfilled positions, including 12 special education roles, the district has hired uncertified teachers. Approximately 850 uncertified teachers were brought on board this year, according to Superintendent Mike Miles. These individuals are required to enroll in a certification program over the next two years, many of whom transitioned from teacher apprenticeships to full-time classroom positions.
Miles noted that when the previous school year ended, HISD faced over 10,000 vacancies. Despite holding multiple job fairs throughout the summer, the district struggled to fill specialized certified positions such as ROTC and career and technical education roles. Miles also mentioned that some applicants at the job fairs either did not meet the district’s standards or lacked the appropriate background.
It remains unclear how many of the remaining vacancies are the result of job eliminations from the previous year.
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Monday marks the first day of school for the largest school district in Texas — Houston ISD.
On Sunday evening, the district said it was still working to assign bus routes for around 700 students.
HISD said students who have not been assigned a route may get on a bus at any stop or route that is for their campus.
The district said bus drivers were told to pick students up and drop them off, even if they were not assigned to a route or stop.
Parents were told to call one of HISD’s transportation services helplines by 7 a.m. for bus route assistance. The district reportedly reached out to all impacted families.
The Transportation Customer Service main phone number is 713-556-5963.
The district says it expects “all students to be assigned a permanent stop within 72 hours of their entry into the transportation assignment system.”
PASADENA, Texas (KTRK) — Pasadena police are hoping surveillance pictures will help them find a suspect involved in a deadly hit-and-run.
According to the family, the victim is 73-year-old Eramos Perez.
It happened on Thursday morning at the intersection of Southmore and Shaver.
“The torture, just him yelling for his life,” David Perez, Eramos Perez’s son, said.
David Perez said that is what he imagines when he thinks of his father’s final moments.
According to Pasadena police, Eramos Perez was in a crosswalk making his way across Southmore Street when he was hit.
Investigators estimate he was dragged about 200 feet before the driver took off.
He said his brother broke the news.
“My brother Joel was trying to reach out to me, and I called him right back, and he told me what happened that he got hit, and all he said was the wheelchair is completely shattered,” David Perez said.
Two days after the crash, Eramos’ wheelchair still sits in a dumpster near the crash scene.
Its state is just as David Perez describes, crushed with Eramos Perez’s shirt lying next to it.
“He always puts his seatbelt on in that wheelchair, so he had nowhere else to go,” David Perez said.
Grainy surveillance photos are investigators biggest lead on the suspect.
The vehicle they were in described only as a dark-colored pickup truck.
“I just hope they are doing the best of their ability to find this individual,” David Perez said.
The morning Eramos lost his life, he was on his way to the McDonald’s in the Walmart across the street.
Perez said it was a daily ritual of sorts.
“Him being partially disabled meaning because of his stroke, half of his body was not active, and that was just the highlight of his day,” David Perez said.
It turns out Eramos Perez’s frequent trips were also a highlight for the McDonald’s employees.
They set up a memorial inside with a picture and a tray of Eramos’ signature order, a sausage biscuit and coffee.
“One of my brothers says they offered him a job as a greeter at one point,” David Perez said.
Eramos lived a simple life, but an impactful one.
Perez said he always worked hard and treated others with dignity and respect.
Something he wasn’t afforded in the end.
“I wish I could take the pain away. He wasn’t supposed to go like this,” David Perez said.
PARIS — American gymnast Jordan Chiles must return the bronze medal she won in the Paris Olympics floor exercise after sport’s highest court voided an on-floor appeal by Chiles’ coach that vaulted Chiles to third, the International Olympic Committee confirmed Sunday.
The IOC announced early Sunday it was reallocating the bronze from last Monday’s women’s floor final to Romanian Ana Barbosu after the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) said Saturday night it would respect the court’s decision and elevate Barbosu to third.
The decision came less than 24 hours after the Court of Arbitration for Sport voided a scoring appeal made by Team USA coach Cecile Landi during the competition that placed Chiles on the podium.
CAS ruled Saturday that Landi’s appeal to have 0.1 added to Chiles’ score came outside the 1-minute window allowed by the FIG. The ad hoc committee wrote that Landi’s inquiry came 1 minute, 4 seconds after Chiles’ initial score was posted.
The IOC said in a statement it will be in touch with the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee regarding the return of Chiles’ bronze and will work with the Romanian Olympic Committee to discuss a reallocation ceremony honoring Barbosu.
CAS wrote Saturday that the initial finishing order should be restored, with Barbosu third, Romanian Sabrina Maneca-Voinea fourth and Chiles fifth. The organization added the FIG should determine the final ranking “in accordance with the above decision,” but left it up to the federation to decide who would get the medal behind gold winner Rebeca Andrade of Brazil and silver medalist Simone Biles of the U.S.
The FIG said it was the IOC’s call on whether to reallocate the medal. The IOC confirmed Sunday it would respect FIG’s decision and seek to have Chiles’ medal returned.
The rapid turn of events adds another layer to what has been a difficult few days for all three athletes.
Romanian gymnastics legend and 1976 Olympic champion Nadia Comaneci feared for Barbosu’s mental health because of the wrenching sequence in which she went from bronze medalist to fourth-place finisher.
“I can’t believe we play with athletes mental health and emotions like this… let’s protect them,” Comaneci posted on X earlier in the week.
Comaneci, at the same time, criticized the judges for the way they scored Maneca-Voinea’s routine – the gymnast was docked 0.1 points for stepping out of bounds, but viral replays showed she narrowly stayed inbounds. Comaneci urged the Romanian Olympic Committee to protest, which it did, but CAS denied that appeal.
Chiles hinted at the decision in an Instagram story on Saturday, indicating she is heartbroken and is “taking this time and removing myself from social media for my mental health, thank you.”
Jazmin Chiles, Jordan’s sister, said on Instagram that Chiles was stripped of a medal “not because she wasn’t good enough. But because the judges failed to give her difficulty and forced an inquiry to be made.”
U.S. teammates offered support to Chiles, a two-time Olympian.
“Sending you so much love Jordan,” American star Simone Biles posted on Instagram. “Keep your chin up ‘Olympic champ’ we love you.”
“All this talk about the athlete, what about the judges?” six-time Olympic medalist Sunisa Lee added on Instagram. “Completely unacceptable, this is awful and I’m gutted for jordan.”
USA Gymnastics said in a statement on Saturday it is “devastated” by the ruling.
“The inquiry into the Difficulty Value of Jordan Chiles’ floor exercise routine was filed in good faith and, we believed, in accordance with FIG rules to ensure accurate scoring,” the organization wrote.
Barbosu and Maneca-Voinea were left outside the medals in the floor final after finishing with matching scores of 13.700. Barbosu thought she had won bronze over Maneca-Voinea via a tiebreaker – a higher execution score – and began celebrating with a Romanian flag.
Chiles was the last athlete to compete and initially given a score of 13.666 that placed her fifth, right behind Maneca-Voinea. Landi called for an inquiry on Chiles’ score was announced.
“At this point, we had nothing to lose, so I was like ‘We’re just going to try,'” Landi said after the awards ceremony. “I honestly didn’t think it was going to happen, but when I heard her scream, I turned around and was like ‘What?'”
Judges awarded the appeal, leapfrogging Chiles past Barbosu and Maneca-Voinea.
Barbosu made it a point after returning home to Romania that she had no problem with Chiles.
“I only want for everybody to be fair, we don’t want to start picking on other athletes of any nationality,” Barbosu told reporters. “We as athletes don’t deserve something like that, we only want to perform as best as we can and to be rewarded based on our performance. The problems lie with the judges, with their calculations and decisions.”
Chiles’ mother, Gina Chiles, called out the critics in a post, writing she was “tired” of the derogatory comments being leveled at Jordan.
“My daughter is a highly decorated Olympian with the biggest heart and a level of sportsmanship that is unmatched,” Gina Chiles posted. “And she’s being called disgusting things.”
The uncertainty also tinges what had been a beautiful moment on the medal stand, when Chiles and Biles knelt to honor Andrade after the Brazilian star won her fourth medal in Paris.
“It was just the right thing to do,” Biles said about a moment that soon went viral, with even the Louvre itself suggesting it might be worthy enough for a spot somewhere in the vicinity of the Mona Lisa.
That memory now carries a complicated and emotional postscript.
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Sunday will be a repeat of Saturday. Temperatures are starting in the mid-upper 70s and will quickly climb into the upper 90s under a mostly sunny sky.
By lunchtime temperatures could be above 90 degrees with a heat index making it feel like close to 100 degrees already. The combination of heat and humidity will push the heat index around 105 Sunday, just shy of Heat Advisory territory.
Ozone levels could again reach unhealthy levels during the peak heat of the day. This invisible gas is a lung irritant that can trigger asthma attacks in sensitive individuals. The pollution levels should peak between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m., so it is best to get in any outdoor activities in the morning.
How many days will ozone pollution be a concern?
With rain chances returning Monday along with a southerly wind, we think Sunday will be the last day (for now) with an Air Quality Alert.
When will higher rain chances return?
The next best chance of rain arrives Monday and Tuesday, but even then it’s only 30%. We’ll get grazed by some tropical moisture, and that should be even to get a few afternoon thundershowers developing along the sea breeze front both days. After Tuesday, the heat ridge will again settle back over Texas to push highs toward 100 again next weekend.
What are you tracking in the tropics?
A tropical wave in the central Atlantic now has a 90% chance of development over the next seven days. This wave will likely become Ernesto over the next week. Head to our daily Tropical Update page for the latest on what’s happening in the tropics.
