Wastewater levels show the Bay Area (and the entire country) is in the midst of the second-largest coronavirus surge of the pandemic, but with fewer deaths and hospitalizations that have characterized other previous surges. The level of the number of people is not nearly the same.
you may have seen it before A social media post called “We are in the second-largest surge of the pandemic.” and this is clearly true! At least when it comes to infectious diseases. Here in the Bay Area, we’re seeing it, The Chronicle reports. Highest levels of coronavirus in wastewater ever recordedHowever, it comes with the qualifier that here in SF we didn’t start recording sewage levels until 2022. And, as Chron points out, “unlike previous waves of the pandemic, fewer people are becoming seriously ill with this disease.”
The pandemic is still raging. We are in the second-largest surge of the pandemic, according to coronavirus wastewater data.
Models suggest that at its peak, about 2 million people will be infected per day, and over the course of the wave, about 100 million people, or about one in three people, are likely to become infected with the coronavirus. https://t.co/Je34QpJCxn
— Dr. Lucky Tran (@luckytran) January 4, 2024
This doesn’t mean we should let our guard down. In fact, we will probably all need to mask and test more often than we have in the past. (And get the latest coronavirus vaccination!) The Chronicle also notes that coronavirus-related hospitalizations have increased 23% in the last month. Just released state datanearly 2,100 Californians were hospitalized.
But that’s a far cry from the 22,000 Californians hospitalized in the first wave of Omcron in early 2021 or the nearly 3,500 at this time last year. Also, while San Francisco’s hospitalization numbers above appear to be fairly low historically, this number has not been updated since his December 30th, so the current hospitalization rate is definitely a little higher.
This is all an expected post-holiday surge due to more travel and gatherings in poorly ventilated areas. This has been the case every January for the past three years. And the new JN.1 variant now accounts for 62% of infections, compared to just 21% a month ago.
Wastewater concentrations of SARS-CoV-2, a leading indicator of coronavirus disease trends, have steadily increased across the country over the past 11 weeks. As of January 6, the national average concentration is the highest since the Omicron wave at the end of 2021.
— Biobot Analytics (@BiobotAnalytics) January 9, 2024
All of this should remind you that Get the latest coronavirus vaccine, and to test more often, even if low mortality and hospitalization rates mean there’s little to worry about. “Although we are not seeing the same levels of hospitalizations and deaths as in 2020 and 2021,” said Dr. Lucky Tran, author of the “Second Biggest Surge” tweet at the top of this post: It is stated as follows. To tell today. “It’s still a very high (infection) baseline compared to before the pandemic, and that’s still something to be aware of.”
Related: Bay Area wastewater increases levels of coronavirus, influenza, and RSV after holidays [SFist]
Image: A young woman with symptoms of coronavirus infection sits on her couch at home and holds a thermometer. (Getty Images)