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With warmer weather here and cold and flu season a few months away, COVID-19 may not be top of mind. But don’t let it slip too far, doctors and public health researchers warn.

Infections are increasing throughout the U.S., according to an Aug. 2 report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), with the number of COVID-19 cases growing or likely

growing in 35 states and territories. Emergency department visits and hospitalizations are also elevated, particularly among adults 65 and older.

These trends aren’t too surprising. Unlike influenza, which William Schaffner, M.D., professor of medicine at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville, Tennessee, says

“virtually disappears” during the summer, COVID-19 keeps circulating. Federal data shows that historically, COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations swell somewhat during the warmer months.

Here’s what you need to know about this summer’s surge.

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A new crop of coronavirus variants is behind the majority of the infections we’re seeing this summer. The strains KP.3, KP.3.1.1, KP.2 and KP.2.3 — collectively known as FLiRT variants —

make up nearly 70 percent of COVID-19 cases in the U.S., CDC data shows as of Aug. 3. A close relative, LB.1, is behind 16 percent of infections.

No doubt we’ve seen some strange nicknames for variants throughout the COVID-19 pandemic — Arcturus, Pirola and Eris, to name a few. According to an explainer posted by the Infectious

Diseases Society of America, FLiRT is an acronym for some of the variants’ spike protein mutations.

The FLiRT variants, which are in the omicron family, appear to be highly transmissible, meaning they spread easily. However so far, they do not appear to cause more severe disease, Schaffner

says.