CDC says COVID-19 Cicada variant is driving cases. What about Florida? – Pensacola News Journal

An “underground” COVID-19 BA.3.2 variant nicknamed “Cicada” has caused an uptick in cases around the globe. It’s been reported in 25 states in the U.S., including Florida.
Like the insect it is nicknamed after, the Cicada COVID variant has essentially spread undetected since it was first detected in a person traveling to the U.S. in June 2025.
It is considered “highly mutated” according to the World Health Organization (WHO), which listed the virus on its Feb. 23 “variants of monitoring” record.
As of late March, the Cicada COVID-19 variant still only accounts for up to 30% of cases in some countries, according to the CDC.
“Monitoring the spread of BA.3.2 provides valuable information about the potential for this new SARS-CoV-2 lineage to evade immunity from a previous infection or vaccination,” said the CDC report.
Here’s what Floridians need to know about COVID variant BA.3.2, or “Cicada.”
Reports of the Cicada COVID-19 variant have cropped up in more than 20 countries, accounting for up to 30% of cases in some, according to the CDC. U.S. cases remain low, overall, but the Cicada variant has been reported in 25 states, including Florida.
Florida and Massachusetts stand out as the only two states whose epidemic trend category the CDC described as “likely growing.” The rest of the states showed declines or no signs of change.
Florida’s weekly COVID-19 report doesn’t breakdown cases by lineage or strain.
COVID-19 cases in Florida, like the rest of the country, have been low, but the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control listed the state as one of only two where cases are “likely growing.” The Florida Department of Health reported 1,193 new cases last week, up from the 959 cases reported the previous week.
Cases overall are down significantly since the pandemic began in 2020. Florida has reported 16,141 COVID-19 cases since January, which is a small percentage compared to last year’s 215,907 cases.
COVID-19 cases in Florida by year:
It is important to note that Florida changed the way it reports COVID-19 cases over the years. Early in the pandemic, the Sunshine State only reported PCR cases. Cases jumped substantially once the Department of Health started including antigen test results.
In mid 2021, Florida reduced how often it reported COVID-19 cases. It stopped updating its daily dashboard and switched to weekly COVID-19 reports. The state also changed its methodology.
It previously counted deaths on the date that they were reported, but started reporting counts based on the date of death, which occurs after the deaths have been evaluated and death certificates have been processed, according to an analysis by the Miami Herald, which it called a “statistical sleight of hand.”
In 2023, the state lost a legal battle over the manipulation of COVID data to show deaths falling during a surge. It was required to release old data and publish new data as a result.
COVID-19 cases in Florida have seen a slight rise over the past week after showing five weeks of declining cases. There were 959 reported cases over the week ending on March 13. The state had 1,193 new cases last week.
“Cicada” is a nickname given to BA.3.2, a highly mutated COVID-19 variant. It was first detected in a person traveling to the United States in June 2025 and was thus nicknamed after the rarely-emerging insects because it has largely remained undetected or “underground” since discovery, Dr. Robert H. Hopkins, Jr., medical director of the National Foundation for Infectious Diseases, told USA TODAY in an email.
The first case in a U.S. patient was diagnosed in January, he said. Between then and the latest available data from Feb. 11, it was detected in wastewater samples—collected from water sources such as sewage, industrial waste, and stormwater runoff to measure pathogens’ presence—from 132 sites across at least 25 states, according to the CDC. The variant was also present in samples from travelers’ voluntary nose swabs.
BA.3.2 has likewise been reported in at least 23 countries, according to the CDC, which also said the very first case worldwide was detected in November 2024 in South Africa. Cases began increasing in September 2025, the agency said.
The variant is considered “highly mutated” because its 70-75 mutations make it distinct from the JN.1 lineage, which has been the source of the predominant U.S. strains over the last two years, according to Hopkins.
The CDC’s latest data from Feb. 11 tracked the presence of BA.3.2 in 25 states, including California, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, Nevada, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia and Wyoming.
More recent data from WasteWaterSCAN, a Stanford University-led tool for tracking the spread of disease, found BA.3.2 was detected in only 3.7% of wastewater samples as of March 14. Variant XFG remains the dominant strain at 53% of samples, followed by LF.7 with 10.3%.
“The number of mutations from JN.1 viruses makes it less likely that the current vaccines will be highly effective against Cicada, but we need more data to better answer this question,” said Hopkins. “It is possible we will see Cicada become the dominant strain in the US, but that is by no means certain. I have heard some concern raised about the possibility that it could drive a US summer surge.”
Cicada already accounts for about 30% of COVID-19 sequences in Germany and some other Northern European countries (such as Denmark and the Netherlands) as of January, he said.
“Low vaccination rates and little to no public health effort toward stopping COVID infections and spread leaves us vulnerable,” Hopkins added.
Like in the case of most other variants, the symptoms of Cicada are the same as those of other COVID-19 infections. As a result, the CDC said indicators to look out for remain the same as with existing variants. Some symptoms may include:
Some later variants have been associated with “razorblade throat” based on increased reports of throat pain.
“I have not seen any data which indicates that Cicada is any more severe than other circulating variants,” said Hopkins. “Severe sore throat is reported as a common symptom along with other typical COVID symptoms.”

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