Levels of coronavirus in Eastern Mass. wastewater still rising
The levels of coronavirus detected in Eastern Massachusetts waste water continued to climb in recent days, as concerns persist that the arrival of the Omicron subvariant BA.2 could drive an increase in COVID-19 cases.
The levels fell precipitously from heights reached early this year as the Omicron wave peaked, then bottomed out around the beginning of March. They have been rising gradually since then, though they are still only a fraction of their peak, according to data from the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority.
Waste water from 43 communities, including Boston, the state’s largest city, converges at MWRA’s Deer Island plant on Boston Harbor for treatment before being piped miles into the ocean. The water is tested for traces of the deadly virus. The MWRA reports numbers for both the southern and northern regions of its system.
The testing determines the number of SARS-CoV-2 RNA copies per milliliter of waste water. Scientists say tracking the level of coronavirus in waste water can serve as advance warning several days ahead of case increases.
For the southern MWRA region, the seven-day average was 303 copies/mL as of Monday. That’s up from a low of 92 copies/mL on March 1. But it’s a far cry from the high of 11,446 RNA copies/mL reached on Jan. 3.
In the northern region, the seven-day average was 313 RNA copies/mL as of Monday, up from 101 on March 9. But it also was a far cry from the peak of 8,644 on Jan. 5.
The charts show the numbers easing upward but not the steep rise the numbers saw during this winter’s surge.
COVID-19 case numbers are also on the rise from rock bottom lows – and still far below levels from the last peak.
Nobody knows for sure how much havoc it will wreak, but the more-infectious BA.2 has already led to a surge of cases in Europe so experts and officials are keeping a close eye on it.
Material from wire services and prior Globe stories was used in this report.
Martin Finucane can be reached at [email protected].
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