Here are the latest national COVID-19 trends, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and major wastewater surveillance providers:
- About 0.8 in every 100,000 people were hospitalized for COVID-19 during the week ending June 7.
- COVID-19 test positivity stayed consistent, with 2.9% of COVID-19 tests returning positive results during both the weeks ending June 7 and June 14.
- SARS-CoV-2 concentration in wastewater has increased 8% between the week ending June 7 and the week ending June 14, and the national wastewater viral activity level is “low,” per the CDC.
- SARS-CoV-2 concentration in wastewater stayed consistent between June 4 and June 11, and the national wastewater trend is “medium,” per WastewaterSCAN.
National COVID-19 metrics in the U.S. continue to report consistent disease levels across much of the country — as I noted last week, I remain pleasantly surprised that we haven’t seen a sharper uptick yet this summer. Still, there are signs of increased SARS-CoV-2 spread in wastewater in some places, particularly on the West Coast and in the South, as the new variant NB.1.8.1 continues to spread.
Wastewater data from the CDC show an 8% increase in the national wastewater viral activity level during the second week of June. The agency changed its national trend from “very low” to “low”; but as always, remember that the CDC’s levels start from a baseline that remains far above the true lows we experienced earlier in the pandemic. WastewaterSCAN and Biobot Analytics’ national averages held steady in their most recent weeks of data.
Both the CDC and WWSCAN report increased SARS-CoV-2 at some wastewater testing sites on the West Coast, including sites in California, Colorado, Hawaii, and Washington State. Local news outlets in California report that the variant NB.1.8.1 is spreading in the state, contributing to increased cases. (Biobot actually reports decreasing SARS-CoV-2 concentrations in the West as of June 14, likely because its network includes different testing sites from the other two data providers.)
NB.1.8.1 is also helping some outbreaks in the South and Midwest, as shown by SARS-CoV-2 increases at wastewater testing sites in Florida, Tennessee, Louisiana, Ohio, and Texas. Of course, it’s likely that viral levels are increasing in other states, too — but we only have data for the places that are testing their wastewater.
Notably, wastewater data tend to pick up increased cases before other COVID-19 metrics, which are still reporting plateaus or even decreases across the country as of mid-June. The latest estimates from the CDC’s forecasting center — which uses emergency department data — find that COVID-19 cases are not “growing or likely growing” in any states as of June 17.
In a bit of good news for wastewater surveillance, Biobot announced last week that the company has started a new round of funding. While their press release doesn’t include specific funding numbers, it’s good to see more support for Biobot’s work after the company ended its popular dashboard amid other downsizing last year.
One response
[…] data, however, show increasing disease spread in parts of the West Coast and South, continued from last week. WWSCAN reports more intense increases in the South as of mid-June, at testing sites in Florida, […]