Boston-area COVID wastewater data surges as BA.4.6 rises: ‘The wastewater spike is worrisome’

Ugh, it’s deja poo another time.

The Boston-area COVID wastewater tracker is but once more displaying indicators of a attainable virus surge, because the sewage information is instantly spiking within the northern and southern areas.

The seven-day COVID wastewater common for the north-of-Boston area has jumped greater than 100% inside the final week, in keeping with Wednesday’s replace from the Massachusetts Water Sources Authority tracker.

The every day common for the north-of-the-city space is now 1,016 copies per milliliter, a 104% spike from the typical of 497 copies final Wednesday.

The seven-day COVID wastewater common for the south-of-Boston area has elevated 56% inside the final week. The common is now 993 copies, which is up from 637 copies final Wednesday.

The wastewater information all through the pandemic has helped predict surges and has been the primary indicator of circumstances on the group degree.

“The wastewater spike is worrisome,” mentioned Davidson Hamer, a Boston College Faculty of Public Well being infectious ailments specialist. “We must be cautious over the subsequent few weeks in public locations and think about masks use for weak people in shops, on public transportation, and many others.”

Virus circumstances in Massachusetts have been steadily growing in latest weeks.

In the meantime, the omicron BA.4.6 variant is rising throughout New England, accounting for extra circumstances every week. The BA.4.6 variant now represents 11.5% of recent circumstances within the area, up from 9.9% two weeks in the past.

The omicron BA.5 variant stays the dominant variant, representing 82.2% of recent circumstances.

Well being officers are urging folks to get the brand new omicron-specific bivalent booster.

“Because the present variants are all subvariants of omicron and now more and more the BA.4 and BA.5 lineages, the bivalent vaccine is a good choice for boosters,” Hamer mentioned. “Folks ought to take into consideration having the booster now to guard themselves from getting sick and shedding time from work or faculty and defending their households.”

The wastewater information is from MWRA’s pilot examine to trace wastewater on the Deer Island therapy plant for indicators of COVID an infection. Samples are taken just a few occasions every week and analyzed by Biobot Analytics, a wastewater epidemiology firm.