Most Western Massachusetts counties are seeing rising levels of the COVID-19 virus in their wastewater, which can be an early indicator of rising COVID infections, and Hampshire County is leading the way, recent data shows.
Wastewater surveillance is a common method used to monitor rates of COVID infections in a given area, according to the Massachusetts Wastewater Resources Authority. When someone is infected with COVID-19, remains of the SARS-CoV-2 virus can be found in their stool after using the bathroom. Each county’s wastewater flows into a wastewater treatment plant where samples of the water are taken and sent to a lab for COVID testing.
Of all the Western Massachusetts counties, Hampshire County had the highest increase during the first three weeks of September, according to Biobot Analytics, a Boston-based wastewater research company. From Sept. 7 to 21, the county went from 1,576 to 2,736 copies per milliliter of the COVID virus in their wastewater – a near 75% increase, and among the highest in the state.
In that same time frame, Berkshire County had a 44.3% rise in the levels of COVID-19 in their wastewater. Their county went from 1,404 to 2,207 copies of the virus per milliliter of wastewater.
From Sept. 7 to Sept. 14, Franklin County saw a near 38% increase in its COVID wastewater levels. In that time span, the county went from having 864 to 1,185 copies of the virus per milliliter of wastewater.
Hampden County was the only western county to see a decrease in recent data, with a near 22% drop in COVID wastewater levels from Sept. 7 to Sept. 14 – the last time their data was submitted. Their county went from 1,022 to 802 copies of the virus per milliliter of wastewater.
Worcester County saw a 6% increase in the levels of the COVID-19 virus in the county’s wastewater. The county went from 1,922 to 2,113 copies of the virus per milliliter of wastewater.
Although there has been some increase in the COVID wastewater levels this month, more sample data is needed before any hard conclusions can be drawn on whether this is a continuing trend, Sheree Pagsuyoin, a professor of Civil & Environmental Engineering at the University of Massachusetts Lowell said.
“These ‘mini surges’ I would call them are not really the kind of outbreaks we saw with the Omicron surge or the Delta surge or the original COVID surge,” said Micheal Hirsh, the Medical Director for the Worcester Division Of Public Health. Although there are little spikes in the number of COVID cases they eventually plateau, just at a higher level than it was before, Hirsh said.
To keep from getting sick, safe Hirsh recommends people take their vaccinations up to date, especially now that the bivalent COVID booster is available.
COVID-19 cases are expected to surge this fall. Experts from the Biden administration believe nearly 100 million people could get infected in the upcoming months. The main culprit behind this new surge is the new COVID omicron subvariants. As the dominant Omicron variant, BA.5 has fallen to 83.1% of new cases, according to the CDC, the newest subvariants: BF.7, BA.4.6 and BA. 2.75 have collectively made up almost 20% of new COVID-19 cases in New England.
The best thing for communities to do is to keep an eye out for the rising COVID-19 cases, said Finn McCool, a Health Director for Hampden County. McCool oversees three towns – Wilbraham, Hampden, Monson and Longmeadow.
In the past two weeks, the county has had 26 cases per 100,000 people, which is well above the state average — roughly 16 cases per 100,000 people.
As for now, McCool said his county is continuing to host vaccine clinics and educate people about vaccinations.
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