Water Sector News
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Wastewater Is Sending a Warning About Covid-19 This Holiday Season
https://www.wsj.com/health/wellness/covid-cases-rise-winter-2023-21e9da23
In what is becoming a holiday-season tradition, Covid-19 cases are rising once again in the U.S., according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Doctors and virus trackers expect cases to increase further in coming weeks as the weather gets colder and people gather indoors for the holidays. They are also closely watching a variant, JN.1, that is spreading fast around the world.
Covid-19 test positivity rates increased over the summer and then stabilized earlier this fall. They have recently ticked back up, rising 1.2% for the latest week, according to the CDC’s most recent data. Emergency department visits and hospitalizations are up about 10% over the same period.
Scientists and public-health officials say that data understates the current virus spread and point to elevated levels of the virus detected in wastewater. Wastewater levels are an early warning for infections, with levels up nationally since mid-October.