Dr. Michael Hoerger doesn't sound alarms lightly. Nearby Hardin County is seeing transmission levels that echo the BA.1 Omicron wave, and the surge is spilling into western Louisiana. Southern Florida, the Utah-Idaho border, and southwestern Colorado round out the list at high or very high activity. Here's the strange part: the CDC's state-level map doesn't show a single state median in the high or very high range. If cases climb at their typical seasonal pace, he projects a summer peak near 500,000 new daily infections by early September.