Doctors across the country and in the Rio Grande Valley are keeping a close eye on a summer COVID spike.

Doctors say spikes like these can happen because people are spending more time in larger crowds.

Health experts encourage everyone to take common-sense precautions. For example, if you are going to be traveling this summer, they advise wearing a face mask.

Compared to last month, there's been a 25 percent increase of COVID cases in Hidalgo County.

Health experts call this the summer bump. Something that has happened every year since 2020.

COVID cannot survive long in high temperatures. The warm weather cause people to head indoors to escape the heat and the virus spreads quicker in low temperatures.

"These respiratory diseases, including COVID, tend to increase in the summer when people travel or people are indoors getting away from the heat," Hidalgo County Health Authority Dr. Ivan Melendez said. "What can we do? We can certainly wear masks if we are going to travel, we can get vaccinated if we are not up-to-date."

Melendez says hospitalizations are no longer being counted daily like before, but they have seen an increase at local hospitals.

Experts say people who are elderly, diabetic, obese or hypertensive are at a higher risk of getting COVID. Melendez recommends this group to mask up in public places and be up-to-date with their vaccines. An updated COVID vaccine is expected to come out later this fall.

If you are feeling sick, it's important to stay inside to prevent any spreading of germs.