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UK COVID-19 variant found at high levels in North County; South County tests find low levels
The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services found high levels of the UK variant of COVID-19 in testing of wastewater at Coldwater Creek in North County this week. So far, the creek is the only area of the state that shows significant levels of the variants, which mutated from the original COVID-19 virus and spreads more quickly.
The latest testing was conducted at Coldwater Creek as a followup from testing in February, which was conducted across the state and found low levels of the UK variant in 15 of the 23 locations tested.
With overall COVID-19 cases decreasing in Missouri, the state conducted followup testing on the 10 locations that had enough virus present in the water for further tests.
The only South County location in the testing, identified as St. Louis/Lemay by the state, had enough viral particles of COVID-19 in wastewater from its sewershed to justify the second round of testing, but those samples tested at 0.1 percent Feb. 16 for the variant, which the state does not consider a detectable level.