Coronavirus levels have jumped significantly in wastewater across the nation, an indication that the summer bump is continuing to grow.
National virus measurements in sewage reached “high” levels for the first time this summer, according to estimates released Friday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
COVID-19 is growing or probably growing in 44 states and in the nation’s capital, the agency reported.
California has in recent months has had high COVID numbers. Now, for the first time since the winter, California has “very high” coronavirus levels in its wastewater, according to CDC data for the week ending July 6.
California was one of seven states in this category; the others are Arkansas, Florida, Maryland, Nevada, Oregon and Texas. Nineteen other states, covering every region in the country, have high coronavirus levels in sewage.
Coronavirus levels in California’s wastewater are now estimated to be significantly higher than last summer. And in Northern California two of the largest sewer-sheds, covering San Jose and Palo Alto in Santa Clara County (the region’s most populous county), reported high levels of the virus in wastewater.
Also, the rate at which COVID tests are coming back with positive results in California has almost reached last summer’s peak.
Read the full story from the Los Angeles Times
