NEW ORLEANS — New Orleans wastewater has become a hotbed for coronavirus.
The Times Picayune | New Orleans Advocate reports the level of coronavirus found in two New Orleans wastewater sites rose nearly 700% over the last two weeks, reporting data provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The virus levels in Louisiana are low, but this recent data has infectious disease experts a bit panicked after weeks of declining cases and loosening restrictions.
“We’re in a little bit of a fog right now, but certainly wastewater suggests SARS-CoV-2 is definitely here and it does seem to be – at best we can tell – increasing,” said Susan Hassig, an infectious disease epidemiologist at Tulane University.
There has been a mild rise in cases over the last week. 604 COVID-19 cases were reported over the last week, up from 450 the previous week. There is also a belief that there are more cases going undetected due to the rise in use of at-home tests, which are not reported to public officials. There are currently a total of 63 people hospitalized in Louisiana due to COVID-19.
The rising levels of COVID nationwide and in Louisiana are predominantly driven by the rise of the BA.2 subvariant of omicron, estimated to be about 50% to 60% more infectious than the original omicron variant. It makes up 84% of COVID cases in the southwest region and 43% of cases in Louisiana as of April 2.
Wastewater in New Orleans — which reflects virus particles shed in saliva, urine and feces — has shown higher levels of coronavirus since the CDC started tracking it in mid-February. The increase has been reflected in samples taken at the end of March and has been steadily increasing through April 9, the most recent data available.