With the first strain of the coronavirus identified over five years ago today, the virus is still ever present.
Here's what you need to know about COVID-19 in 2025.
Why It Matters
The COVID-19 pandemic started over five years ago, but the virus continues to circulate among global populations.
COVID-19 is on the rise across the country, with 20 states plus the District of Columbia reporting "very high" levels of SARS-CoV-2 between December 29 and January 4, according to new data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The information shows that 6.9 percent of all COVID-19 tests around the country came back positive during the week ending January 4.
What are COVID Symptoms to Watch for in 2025?
Historically, COVID-19 symptoms have been fevers or chills, cough, shortness of breath, cough, congestion or a runny nose, sore throat, loss of taste or smell, fatigue and body aches, headache, nausea or vomiting or diarrhea, according to the CDC.
Experts told Very Well Health that there are "no distinct symptoms" that make the current most dominant variant different from others.
What is the Latest Strain of COVID?
XEC is a subvariant of the Omicron strand of SARS-CoV-2. It was first detected in Germany in June. As of December 21, 4,065 sequences in the XEC lineage have been detected, with the most prevalence in France and Finland, according to the Scripps Research database Outbreak.info.
"One reason for the concern is that XEC has moved quickly enough to outpace the growth of all other SARS-CoV-2 variants in a few areas in Europe," Dr. Scott Roberts, a Yale Medicine infectious disease specialist, said in a press release. "The rate of infections from XEC they're seeing in some countries rose pretty quickly compared to previous variants in those same places."
On September 30, the strain accounted for 10 percent of all COVID-19 cases. Between December 8 and December 21, the CDC's data shows that XEC accounts for 45 percent of all cases.
"At this juncture, the XEC variant appears to be the most likely one to get legs next," Dr. Eric Topol, the founder of the Scripps Research Translational Institute, posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, in September.
Vaccines are expected to work well against the XEC and other variants of COVID-19.
The CDC estimates based on data that from October 1 through December 7 there have been between 2.5 to 4.4 million COVID-19 illnesses. Between 72,000 to 120,000 of those have resulted in hospitalization, and 8,200 to 13,000 have led to death.
"This shows that COVID-19 still causes a substantial number of serious illnesses, even when overall levels of COVID-19 activity are low compared to earlier periods," the CDC states.
What are the CDC's Guidelines for COVID Isolation in 2025?
In May, the CDC issued new guidelines about isolation. The change suggested that people who test positive for COVID-19 no longer need to stay away for five days; instead, people who have COVID-19 should stay at home until they've been fever-free without medication for at least 24 hours and their symptoms have been improving for 24 hours.
What are the Symptoms of Paxlovid, the COVID-19 Pill?
Common side effects of Paxlovid include a loss of appetite, yellowing skin and the white part of eyes, pale-colored stools, itchy skin and abdominal pain.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Paxlovid in 2023 after it was initially granted as an Emergency Use Authorization in December 2021.
The antiviral therapy drug was developed by Pfizer and has an 89 percent reduction in the risk of hospitalization and death in unvaccinated people.
Paxlovid should be taken within five days of developing symptoms.
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