Despite the influx of travelers across the county over Thanksgiving, the number of states with “very high” levels of the COVID-19 virus in their wastewater has dropped.
Data from the U. S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that between Nov. 24 and Nov. 30, only New Mexico wastewater testing reported “very high” levels of SARS- CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. 19.
Only the previous week, between November 17 and 23, “very high” degrees had been reported in Idaho and South Dakota, as well as in New Mexico.
During Thanksgiving week, Arizona, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, South Dakota and Wyoming reported “high” levels of COVID-19-related wastewater, while Arkansas, Idaho, Kansas , Maine, Massachusetts, Ohio, and Pennsylvania and Virginia had “moderate” degrees.
Additionally, 13 states reported “low” levels of wastewater SARS-CoV-2, and 18 states and D.C. reported “minimal” levels.
The data from Missouri, Oklahoma, North Carolina, Mississippi, Virginia and South Dakota all have “limited coverage” for this week’s data, meaning their estimated viral activity is “based on a small part (less than 5 percent) of the population and may not represent viral activity levels for the entire state or territory,” the CDC explains. North Dakota also has no data for this period.
CDC Looks to Wastewater for COVID-19 to Monitor Virus Spread in Communities Without Relying on Individual Pool Only
Other infected people shed the virus in their stool before showing symptoms or getting tested. Wastewater monitoring can detect the presence of the virus at an early stage, even before outbreaks are noticed.
“Wastewater monitoring can encounter the spread of viruses from one user to another within a network before clinical trials and before other people with health problems go to the doctor or hospital. You can also encounter infections without symptoms,” the CDC says. “If higher degrees of viral activity are observed in wastewater, this may mean that there is a higher risk of infection. “
However, the state has other wastewater sampling sites, so reported viral activity may not be fully representative of virus levels in the community.
New: CDC’s COVID Data Tracker now shows national wastewater surveillance data. Using wastewater surveillance to track levels of virus that causes #COVID19 can give communities an early warning of increasing COVID-19 cases & help them prepare. See the data: https://t.co/xlwzpIWLGL pic.twitter.com/67xpYrdWuZ
By analyzing wastewater over time, the health government can track trends in infection rates, helping to assess cases that are increasing or decreasing in a given area. Wastewater samples can also be tested to identify virus-expressing variants, offering insight into how variants spread.
During the two weeks before Thanksgiving, KP.3.1.1 made up 31 percent of COVID-19 variants in U.S. wastewater. The new XEC variant made up 26 percent, KP.3 made up 17 percent, JN.1 made up 11 percent, and “other” made up 15 percent.
Four percent of COVID-19 tests nationwide came back positive during the week ending November 30, down from 4.5 percent the week before.
Is there a health problem that’s worrying you? Do you have a question about COVID-19? Let us know via [email protected]. We can ask experts for advice, and your story could be featured in Newsweek.
Jess Thomson is a Newsweek science journalist based in London, UK. It focuses on reporting on science, generation and healthcare. He has extensively covered animal behavior, area news and the effects of climate change. Jess joined Newsweek in May 2022 and previously worked at Springer Nature. He graduated from Oxford University. Languages: English. You can contact Jess by emailing j. thomson@newsweek. com.