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Respiratory Virus Report

Division of Communicable Disease Control

California Respiratory Virus Dashboard

What to Know

Seasonal influenza activity is rising, particularly in the Bay Area and Southern California. Hospitalizations are currently low but are expected to increase. CDPH continues to recommend influenza vaccination, testing, and timely treatment.
A new H3N2 flu strain (subclade K) is causing severe early flu seasons in the Northern Hemisphere. Current influenza vaccines continue to offer protection, especially against severe disease.
RSV activity is increasing in California, especially among children. Hospitalizations are currently low but are expected to increase. Immunizations are recommended for all eligible persons.
COVID-19 activity remains very low statewide, with minimal test positivity, emergency room visits, and hospitalizations. CDPH continues to recommend COVID-19 vaccination, especially for those at increased risk and for all who choose protection.
Vaccines are available in California. Talk with your doctor or visit MyTurn to schedule your vaccine appointment today.

Updated 11/21/25

About the Dashboard

Many respiratory viruses, including flu, RSV and COVID-19 circulate year-round in the United States. Some viruses are more active from October through March, such as the flu and RSV among many others.

The California Respiratory Virus Dashboard shows statewide and regional, weekly respiratory virus data. It provides an overview of activity and severity for flu, RSV, and COVID-19. The data updates most Fridays. This may change in the future as more information becomes available. Refer to the How to Navigate the Dashboard section for guidance on utilizing and understanding the dashboard features.

CDPH monitors:

Positive tests data from those who seek healthcare
Emergency department visits for respiratory viruses
Hospitalization rates for flu, RSV and COVID-19
Vital records data of deceased individuals from these diseases
Presence of respiratory viruses in wastewater

This information allows CDPH to:

Identify changes in disease patterns
Identify level of viruses, if present

How to Navigate the Dashboard

Select a tab at the top to see:

An overview
Test positivity
Flu typing
Emergency department (ED) visits
Hospital admissions
Deaths or pediatric deaths

In the overview tab, select your region to determine the level of respiratory illness causing people to seek healthcare.

To determine which region your county is in, go to the Regional Public Health Office page.
On our overview page of the dashboard, you can also select a condition and see the levels for all the regions of California for:

Test positivity
New admissions
Wastewater concentrations

Hover over a region to see the level and value for each metric.

Definitions of test positivity and hospital admissions levels can be seen in the table below. For wastewater level information, see the California Wastewater Surveillance Dashboard.

	Influenza		RSV		COVID-19
	Test Positivity	Hospital Admissions	Test Positivity	Hospital Admissions	Test Positivity	Hospital Admissions
Very Low	<2%	<1	<1%	<0.5	<3%	<3
Low	2-9%	1-4	1-4%	0.5-1.5	3-8%	3-13
Moderate	9-15%	4-6	4-7%	1.5-2	8-13%	13-23
High	15-21%	6-9	7-10%	2-3	13-17%	23-32
Very High	>21%	>9	>10%	>3	>17%	>32

For the test positivity, ED visits, hospital admissions, and deaths tabs, there are two figures.

The top figure compares all three conditions for the current season. In the bottom figure you can select the condition and view data for the current and past two seasons.
On the hospital admissions tab there are only two seasons due to changing reporting requirements.
Season is defined as Morbidity and Mortality Weekly report (MMWR) week 27 through week 26 of the following year.
These weeks are usually at the end of June or beginning of July.

Using the drop down to the left of each multi-season figure, values can be filtered by:

Condition
Region
Age
Date Display Options*

When filtering, if you deselect all options on the Region and Age filters, the figure still shows the values for selecting all.
The flu-typing page only has a figure for the current season. It has the same filtering options as the multi-season figures, except condition. This tab only has influenza data.
The ED visits page does not include filters for region and age.
The pediatric deaths page has one figure with all conditions and multiple seasons with no additional filters.

* The date format for the x-axis of the figures can be changed to display the MMWR week, week-ending date, or month.

MMWR is a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report that provides critical updates on public health concerns. It’s typically used by public health professionals, researchers, policymakers and healthcare providers for decision-making on public health threats.

The MMWR week date format allows for a more straightforward comparison to CDC’s report. When selecting the monthly option for date display options, values are averaged for the entire month, even if the current month hasn’t ended.