As health experts turn to wastewater to grasp the number of COVID-19 cases in a region, new data taken this week in Central Massachusetts showed cases are plummeting.
Samples taken from the Upper Blackstone Clean Water facility in Millbury on Monday show COVID levels have dropped to the totals seen at the end of December. The report, which was published on Thursday, said despite the drop, the case load remains relatively high in comparison to other regions.
According to BioBot, which performs the analysis of the wastewater, the samples collected this week are still higher than 64% of the samples collected in the last six weeks. It was also higher than the nationwide median of samples taken over the last six weeks.
Still there’s reason for optimism. Previous samples showed the case levels skyrocket at the beginning of January and remain high until Thursday’s report.
The seven-day average increased from the previous report but was still lower than the peak.
According to the data, the most recent surge began its uptick at the end of November and until this week had not substantially dropped.
Experts are now turning to wastewater data for COVID levels because it paints a broader picture of the situations in communities. With the prevalence of at-home tests, the Department of Public Health COVID case totals can be misleading to an extent as they do not include the positive tests from at-home tests.
While the drop is welcomed news, it is unlikely to provide relief at hospitals immediately. Hospitalizations normally peak about two weeks after a peak in cases. Deaths normally reach their highest weeks after a peak in hospitalizations.
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