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Urgent care visit volumes continue at a predictable summer pace, but certain states have seen a rise in COVID-19 diagnoses, according to exclusive data from Experity. In fact, patients with COVID are presenting with symptoms that mirror strep pharyngitis, making it harder to tell the difference without testing. Arizona has the top positivity rate in the country at 24.2%, as of July 6, 2025. From mid-May through the beginning of July, the positivity rate has grown from 5.2% to 10.6%.
The Nimbus variant: A COVID-19 variant known as Nimbus has become prevalent across the United States, representing an estimated 43% of COVID cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). With it, patients are complaining of painful sore throat symptoms. Whether the so-called “razor blade throat” symptom is unique to the Nimbus variant is unclear because multiple variants are currently circulating, and fewer patients are presenting for testing and care compared to previous pandemic years. Today, patients may be focused on the sore throat because previous virus variants produced more severe systemic symptoms, making throat pain less of a noticeable issue by comparison. About 0.4% of emergency department visits in the week ending June 21, 2025, resulted in a diagnosis of COVID-19, and about 3% of the 25,500 tests reported were positive for COVID that week, according to CDC. Of course, the numbers only reflect patients who were tested, so it’s possible that the actual COVID rate is higher. Stay up to date with urgent care on the Experity Urgent Care Visit Volume Data Tracker.
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