Coronavirus wastewater data, CDC guidelines can give mixed signals on whether to mask

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Thu, 2022-03-10 10:47 — mike kraft

Coronavirus wastewater data, CDC guidelines can give mixed signals on whether to mask The CDC continues to monitor community spread. But for many communities, there is a disconnect between what the surveillance data shows and what the new guidelines suggest. Deidre McPhillips, CNN CNN

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As many Americans try to move on from the height of the pandemic and as testing wanes, detecting coronavirus levels in wastewater offers an alternative to monitoring community spread.

The CDC captures wastewater data for about 650 sewersheds, representing about a quarter of the US population. For most of those sites, the amount of virus detected has dropped over the past two weeks.

But for some, the amount of virus has spiked -- up at least 1,000% compared with 15 days earlier.

For local leaders, an early warning sign such as this might prompt a renewed emphasis on prevention measures. But with the vast majority of the country now living in areas considered to have a low or medium "community level" of Covid-19, this surveillance data may conflict with what CDC guidelines suggest. ...

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