COVID source shout-out: Biobot continues its contract with the CDC

February 12, 2023.Reading time 1 minute.

Leading wastewater surveillance company Biobot Analytics announced this week that it will continue to work with the CDC’s National Wastewater Surveillance System (NWSS) through July 2023.

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Sources and updates, February 12

February 12, 2023.Reading time 4 minutes.

Sources and updates for the week of February 12 include routine vaccinations for kids, variant analysis in China, ME/CFS research, and more.

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Two major COVID-19 trackers stop data collection

February 12, 2023.Reading time 5 minutes.

This week, two major COVID-19 tracking efforts announced that they will stop collecting data. While the decisions make sense in light of reduced data availability these days, this news still feels like a signal that fewer institutions want to spend time and resources on pandemic tracking.

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This winter’s COVID-19 surge wasn’t “mild”

February 12, 2023.Reading time 8 minutes.

You might have seen some headlines like this in the last few weeks: COVID-19 was “mild” this winter. This winter was “better” than previous winters. COVID-19 is becoming “another seasonal virus” like flu and RSV. But looking at the actual data, we can see this is far from the truth.

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National numbers, February 12

February 12, 2023.Reading time 5 minutes.

Nationwide, COVID-19 spread appears to be in a plateau: not substantially increasing, but not substantially decreasing, either. Officially-reported cases dropped by only 1% this week compared to the week prior, while wastewater data shows that the coronavirus concentration in our sewage hasn’t changed significantly for the last month.

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Sources and updates, February 5

February 5, 2023.Reading time 4 minutes.

Sources and updates for the week of February 5 include modeling persistent COVID-19 risk, global vaccination coverage, COVID-related lawsuits, and more.

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What the public health emergency’s end means for COVID-19 data

February 5, 2023.Reading time 8 minutes.

This past Monday, the White House announced that the federal public health emergency for COVID-19 will end in May. While this decision might be an accurate reflection of how most of the U.S. is treating COVID-19 right now, it has massive implications for Americans’ access to tests, treatments, vaccines—and data.

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Wastewater surveillance can get more specific than entire sewersheds

February 5, 2023.Reading time 14 minutes.

This week, I had a new article published in The Atlantic about how COVID-19 wastewater surveillance can be useful beyond entire sewersheds, the setting where this testing usually takes place. Sewershed testing is great for broad trends about large populations (like, an entire city or county), the story explains. But if you’re a public health official seeking truly actionable data to inform policies, it’s helpful to get more specific.

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National numbers, February 5

February 5, 2023.Reading time 6 minutes.

COVID-19 spread in the U.S. continues to decline—but the decline continues to get slower, following the trend that I wrote about last week. Official COVID-19 cases, hospital admissions, and wastewater surveillance all indicate decreased transmission, leading into potential plateaus.

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