July 3, 2024 – COVID-19 Case numbers have risen nationwide this summer, and now wastewater monitoring data suggests one other increase is anticipated within the Western United States
The CDC has updated its wastewater monitoring website to report that the virus that causes COVID, called SARS-CoV-2, is being detected at high levels in some western states. The western reporting region includes 13 states and one territory: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Guam, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.
The recent report of increased COVID activity comes because the busy Fourth of July holiday season begins. Wearing a well-fitting mask in crowded indoor settings stays on the CDC's list. Fact sheet on COVID preventionalong with current vaccinations and good hygiene.
Detection of viruses in wastewater is taken into account an indicator of some infectious diseases because it will probably show human-to-human transmission of the virus before trends develop, as sick people are likely to wait to see a health care provider or hospital. Additionally, wastewater monitoring can show trends when individuals are infected with a virus and don't have any symptoms. COVID symptoms typically appear between 2 and 14 days after exposure.
In its latest wastewater monitoring report, the CDC urged people to view the upward trend within the context that COVID activity stays historically low.
“In April and May 2024, COVID-19 activity was lower than at any other time since the pandemic began. Recent increases must be viewed from this baseline. These include increases in COVID-19 test positivity and emergency department visits, indicating growth in COVID-19 activity in several states, as well as increases in COVID-19-related hospitalizations among adults over 65 in some western locations,” the agency explained its Last update“Although there are signs of the possible start of a summer surge, COVID-19 activity remains low nationwide. CDC will continue to monitor whether these recent increases continue.”
The CDC's wastewater monitoring program includes data from 1,214 sites and is estimated to cover about 126 million people, or 37% of the U.S. population.
The latest figures indicate a worrying deviation from the SARS-CoV-2 activity level, which has been steadily increasing since May. The recent Data from Western countries rose more sharply within the week of June 15 to 22 than in the remainder of the country.
Monitoring by scientists from Stanford and Emory University published on website WastewaterSCAN.org Higher SARS-CoV-2 levels are also being seen across the country. The donor-funded program reports on municipal wastewater from nearly 200 sites across the country and says virus activity has been “high” across the country over the past three weeks, aside from the Northeast, where activity was classified as “moderate.”