Very high levels of the COVID-19 virus have been found in the wastewater monitoring systems of 21 states, including New Hampshire, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Wastewater testing has become a critical way to track the spread of the virus in the absence of widespread testing. In its most recent map from July 18, the CDC showed there was a “very high” level of the virus in wastewater in Alaska, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, and Wyoming, plus the District of Columbia.
Another 14 states — Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Delaware, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Massachusetts, Missouri, Montana, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Virginia — had a “high” presence of the virus. New York was the only state to report “low” levels of the virus.
The CDC data also shows emergency department visits and deaths trending higher in the past week. Reporting on hospitalizations lags behind but also showed an increase earlier in July. The overall numbers are still lower than they have been earlier in the pandemic, though higher than they were last summer.
New vaccines targeted to the virus lineage that’s now circulating widely are expected to be available this fall.
Send any questions or comments to Kirk Enstrom at [email protected].