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ASHEVILLE, NC – March 30, 2022 – The decreasing number of COVID-19 infections, hospitalizations, and deaths in the United States has reduced the need for mask and vaccine mandates. However, case numbers are rising in Western Europe from a more transmissible variant of Omicron, called BA.2. A public health tool called wastewater surveillance can provide an early warning, between 3 to 7 days, before individual testing can show that COVID-19 is spreading in a particular community. Wastewater surveillance systems have been previously used to track the spread of other infectious pathogens in a community, like polio in the United States.

The CDC has partnered with local health departments to develop a system to track SARS-CoV-2 levels, the virus that causes COVID-19, in untreated wastewater samples from communities across the country. About 40 to 80 percent of people with COVID infection shed the genetic material from the virus in their feces which is transported in wastewater to treatment stations. The amount of viral load in the wastewater is related to the prevalence of COVID in a community. Changes in the viral load can be used to determine whether community infections are increasing or decreasing. Wastewater surveillance is valuable because most households (almost 80%) are served by municipal wastewater collection systems. However, homes on a septic system (common in rural communities) are not in the surveillance. Therefore, wastewater surveillance may not be accurate in North Carolina where forty to fifty percent of households are connected to septic systems.

The North Carolina Department of Health & Human Services submits the wastewater data from select wastewater treatment plants to the CDC where it is analyzed and sent back to the state. From the state website, the 15-day rate of change of viral load for the Metropolitan Sewer District for Buncombe County is falling at a range of -99% to -10% for the time period of March 2 to March 16^th. This is consistent with the community’s decreased case rate one-week later. The CDC website reports that the 15-day rate of change of viral load has dramatically risen at a range of 100% to 999% during the time period one week later ending on March 20. As reported in North Carolina Health News, Amy Kirby, the leader of the CDC’s surveillance system, commented that wastewater surveillance “data are uniquely powerful because they capture the presence of infections from people with and without symptoms.”

Wastewater surveillance can advise communities to adopt preventive public health measures before case rates rise in order to slow COVID-19 spread and to increase the medical system capacitance necessary to withstand a future surge of cases.

 

Listen to the full report below:

Contact: Dick Needleman, Health reporter, 103.3 AshevilleFM, [email protected]

More Posts for Show: Asheville FM News Hour

ASHEVILLE, NC – March 22, 2022 – At the March 15^th  Buncombe County Commissioners’ Briefing, Public Health Director, Stacie Saunders mentioned that COVID-19 briefings will be held less frequently because the rate of COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths are falling beneath severe levels, the presence of effective public health infrastructure of testing and vaccination, good levels of population immunity from high vaccination rates in the community and from to previous infection, and effective new therapeutics for early treatment and prevention of severe illness. These community measures indicate a reduced risk of getting severely ill although persons with risk factors of age, underlying health conditions and immunosuppression are still at high risk. At the Briefing she opined that “COVID-19 will continue to be a part of our lives going forward.”

Buncombe County COVID-19 metrics can be obtained from the North Carolina COVID-19 Dashboard at https://covid19.ncdhhs.gov/dashboard .

• As of March 22, 2022, there are 101 total cases per 100,000 residents
• 66% of the total population have received their full primary vaccination series. This is unchanged from February 22 but below the goal of at least 70%.
• 58% of fully vaccinated people have received boosters. This is up 1% since last week.
• The Mountain Area Healthcare Preparedness Coalition of Western North Carolina reports fewer COVID-19 hospitalizations and ICU patients over the past week. Hospitalizations are down 45% and Adult ICU patients have decreased by 47%
• The risk level for Buncombe County is low for the week ending on March 24 according to the CDC’s new safety guidelines and prevention tool based on the level of COVID-19 risk for each county and its impact on hospital resources.

The Department of Health and Human Services recommend:

• Get vaccinated and boosted when eligible.
• People with any COVID symptoms or exposure to someone with COVID should get tested
• People who are positive for COVID-19 or do not feel well should stay home and away from other people to keep from spreading it to others

Vaccination sites and testing sites can be located through the North Carolina and Buncombe County Department of Health and Human Services. COVID-19 vaccinations are available at the Health Department Immunization Clinic at 40 Coxe Ave. from Monday to Friday between 8 AM and 4:30 PM on a walk-in basis.

Save your face masks:

• The risk level may change with another new variant
• A person with medical conditions who are at high risk for severe illness should speak with their health care provider about preventive measures.
• Mask wearing is recommended for persons with a positive test, having symptoms, or exposure to someone with COVID-19
• Governor Cooper has issued an executive order requiring everyone to wear a mask in “high risk” settings like health care facilities, nursing homes, correctional facilities and homeless shelters.

 

Listen to the full report below:

Contact: Dick Needleman, Health reporter, 103.3 AshevilleFM, [email protected]

More Posts for Show: Asheville FM News Hour