Summertime in Virginia: Temps are sweltering and show no sign of abating. Children are out of school and bored. Various fruits and vegetables are ripe for the picking, even in this hellish heat.

And cases of COVID-19, the scourge of our nation and the planet, tick up around the Commonwealth. It’s become a rite of the season, as common as antsy kids, forever-running air conditioning and respites at the beach.

We should get used to the seasonal increase in infections and protect ourselves as best as possible. 

That means: boosting our vaccines – or getting an initial one if we’ve stubbornly refused; practicing good hygiene, including washing our hands frequently; staying home if sick; and testing to detect infections.

The situation now, thankfully, is far from the over-whelming terror at the height of the pandemic that began in early 2020. COVID-19 killed more than 1.13 million people in the United States and infected more than 104 million, or less than one-third of the U.S. population.

Still, “There are people severely sick from COVID-19,” Heather Harmon-Sloan, the COVID-19 unit lead for the Virginia Department of Health, told me this last week. “We still see people pass away.”

The state listed no coronavirus deaths in the weeks ending June 29 and July 6.

That contrasted, though, with 40 deaths reported across Virginia in the week ending Feb. 10, according to the health department.

A local daily newspaper recently reported COVID-19 numbers rose in June and that the new FLiRT variant is circulating. The COVID-19 “parent” variant is SARS-CoV-2.

On June 8, the state’s confirmed cases numbered 638, and they had nearly doubled by July 6. Those numbers, though, were dwarfed by the total in December, when 5,600 cases were reported in Virginia. The newest variant has the same symptoms of upper respiratory problems, Harmon-Sloan said. Antiviral treatments should be effective.

A troubling sign is the total number of people who got the 2023-24 vaccine in Virginia, she said. A new vaccine for 2024-25 will target the FLiRT variant and probably will come out in September. The current one, though, is still available for those who didn’t get vaccinated.

Some 91% of Virginians has gotten at least one dose of the vaccine, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Seventy-seven percent were considered fully vaccinated as of May 2023.

About1.34 million Virginians got the latest COVID-19 vaccine, according to state records. (The state population is 8.7 million.)

“In order to update and restore people’s protection and immunity,” Harmon-Sloan told me, “it’s important to get the latest vaccine.”

The news on infections and vaccinations was released about the same time the agency announced that a long COVID surveillance project, which began in October in the Central Virginia Health District, would now be open to all residents in Southwest Virginia. Long COVID means someone is still sick at least two months after getting COVID-19. Participants must live in the following state health districts: Roanoke city and Alleghany, Central Virginia, Cumberland Plateau, LENOWISCO, Mount Rogers, New River, Pittsylvania-Danville, Southside or West Piedmont.

“We’re just hoping to better understand how long COVID has affected people in their daily lives,” said Cali Anderson, senior epidemiologist for the Central Health District. “And identify opportunities to improve long COVID resources.”

Symptoms can include trouble breathing, coughing and feeling weak and tired.

The project has so far detected 141 cases of long COVID and fewer than five deaths in the Central Health District, which comprises Lynchburg city and the counties of Amherst, Appomattox, Bedford and Campbell.

U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine has publicly announced he has the condition. The Democrat has co-sponsored legislation to support long COVID-19 sufferers.

In February, the National Institutes of Health announced it was redirecting $515 million in federal money for the RECOVER initiative. The nationwide research program targets long COVID. The CDC says one in nine adults in the country who have had COVID-19 continue to suffer from long COVID.

Nowadays, it’s comforting to go out to stores, restaurants and places of worship and feel we’re not taking our lives in our hands. Mask-wearing is mostly optional – and doesn’t cause controversy, thankfully.

COVID-19 is now considered “endemic,” what the CDC calls “the amount of a particular disease that is usually present in a community.”

But COVID-19 has not disappeared. People age 65 and over and with certain medical conditions must continue to monitor the latest news and updates.

Be smart. Get the vaccine. Realize others might refuse – and could be infected. Be cognizant when in poorly ventilated buildings.

We’re in a much better place today than in 2020 and 2021. Let’s work to keep it that way.

This commentary originally appeared on VirginiaMercury.com.