If you've heard that COVID-19 illness is circulating in our community, Erie County Department of Health officials are confirming your suspicious.

While health officials say the COVID virus never completely left the local region, the admit Erie County, like much of the country, is experiencing a surge in cases.

Because many people no longer test for the virus, even when they experience symptoms, and since doctors are no longer required to report cases to health officials, they first spotted the surge coming in July through ongoing wastewater testing.  Parts of shed virus in local sewage are up significantly and continuing to rise. 

"We are in the low 10's of thousands at this point," said Lauren Carson, a research associate at the Erie County Department of Health.  "So we're high -- we're seeing a bit of an increase, we're seeing an upward trend, we think it's just related to more people gathering because of the end of summer, more people traveling out of and into Erie."

Nurses at the county health department say most cases are fairly mild, and hospitalizations are few, but the symptoms can knock you down for a couple of days.  "It can knock you out," said Colleen Wallace, Director of Community Health Services at the department of health.  "I had it a couple weeks ago and it just started out with a small tickle and a small cough and within 24 hours I really did not feel well...fever, just very tired, headaches, sore throat."

A new 2024-2025 COVID vaccine is just out.  It corresponds to the Omicron variant KP.2 which is the one that is circulating not.  It's a one dose shot that you can ask your doctor about.  If you've had a recent case of COVID, there's no reason to get a vaccine for three months.

For more on this and other public health issues and concerns, including Mpox, watch the Insider this weekend, with Lisa Adams.