Answering reader questions about wastewater data, rapid tests, Paxlovid
Answering reader questions about interpreting wastewater surveillance data, rapid test accuracy, and Paxlovid access.
Read MoreCategory: Wastewater
COVID source shout-out: Virginia’s new wastewater dashboard
This past week, Virginia’s health department added a new wastewater surveillance section to its COVID-19 dashboard. The new section includes a map of testing sites, coronavirus trends by site, viral loads over time, and plenty of text explaining how to interpret the data.
Read MoreNational numbers, May 21
Nationwide, COVID-19 spread in the U.S. continues to be in a somewhat-middling plateau: lower than the massive amount of Omicron transmission we all got used to throughout late 2022, but still higher than the lulls between outbreaks we saw in prior years.
Read MoreCOVID source shout-out: Wastewater testing at the San Francisco airport
A few months ago, I wrote about how testing sewage from airplanes could be a valuable way to keep tabs on the coronavirus variants circulating around the world. This spring, San Francisco International Airport became the first in the U.S. to actually start doing this tracking; I covered their new initiative for Science News.
Read MoreHow wastewater surveillance is funded, and concerns for its future
This week, I have a new story out in Scientific American about why the wastewater surveillance infrastructure built during the pandemic may not last in the long term. While current monitoring projects aren’t likely to go anywhere right now, issues with funding, uneven commitments at state and local levels, and the overall novelty of this field may lead those programs to shut down in the coming years.
Read MoreCOVID source shout-out: WastewaterSCAN’s newsletter
A few weeks ago, I learned that the WastewaterSCAN project has a newsletter, which shares updates about COVID-19 and other diseases nationally and for the Bay Area in California. It’s a helpful resource for following infectious disease trends.
Read MoreCOVID-19 dashboards that haven’t shut down yet
We are in an era of dashboard shutdowns. Government agencies, research groups, and media organizations alike are winding down their COVID-19 reporting efforts. So, here’s a list of dashboards that have NOT yet shut down.
Read MoreAt-home tests, wastewater: COVID-19 testing after the public health emergency ends
When the public health emergency ends this spring, COVID-19 testing is going to move further in two separate directions: rapid, at-home tests at the individual level, and wastewater testing at the community level. That was my main takeaway from an online event last Tuesday, hosted by Arizona State University and the State and Territory Alliance for Testing.
Read MoreNational numbers, March 5
At the national level, major COVID-19 metrics continue to indicate slow declines in transmission. As I’ve been writing for the last few weeks, we’re at a “low tide” point in COVID-19 spread: clearly lower than the peaks that occur after holidays or new variants, but much higher than the baselines that we experienced before the Omicron era.
Read MoreSources and updates, February 26
Sources and updates for the week of February 26 include deaths in U.S. prisons, the future of COVID-19 vaccines, airplane wastewater testing, and more.
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