COVID Spike In MA Wastewater Raises Health Officials' Concerns

BOSTON —Coronavirus levels in eastern Massachusetts wastewater are at their highest levels since late spring, leading some health officials to raise concerns about the big spike.

"We've seen this the last several times when school has come back in session," Andrew Lover, an assistant professor of epidemiology at the University of Massachusetts told WGBH. "But it is a bit concerning that it's so sudden and pretty high and [in] just a short period of time."

The seven-day averages of RNA copies per mililiter 1104 and 1081 on Sept. 27, up from 637 and 497 on Sept. 21. Case counts, which typically lag behind wastewater surge, have yet to show a significant spike.

Boston "will likely see similarly elevated rates of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in the coming weeks, data which often lags behind wastewater," the city's Public Health Comission said in a news release last week.

While the recent increase is still significantly lower than wastewater levels detected in January, during the omnicrom-fueled surge of coronavirus cases, some groups are calling on public officials to restore policies aimed at limiting the spread of COVID. BPS Families for Covid Safety, or FamCOSa, wants Boston Public Schools to restore masking policies, implement weekly testing for staff and students and pay more attention to ventilation and air filtration in the city's schools.

"This spike in our wastewater concentration is of great concern and another reminder that the pandemic is far from over," Dr. Bisola Ojikutu, commissioner of public health and executive director of the Boston Public Health Commission, said in a statement. "The key to protecting ourselves remains the same, and these tools are particularly important given this current trend: get vaccinated, get boosted, and wear masks indoors. By protecting ourselves now, we can reduce the risk of infection as we spend more time indoors in the fall and winter."