The amount of COVID-19 being detected in Greater Boston's wastewater has been on the rise recently, as the weather begins to get colder and wintertime approaches.
Data that was updated Wednesday from the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority shows the amount of virus copies per milliliter of wastewater is trending upward in communities on both the north and south systems, according to samples collected through Monday.
WATCH ANYTIME FOR FREE
 |
Stream NBC10 Boston news for free, 24/7, wherever you are. |
The southern system's seven day average went from 671 copies/mL on Sept. 20 to 993 copies/mL on Sept. 26. During that same timeframe, the seven day average spiked from 508 copies/mL in the northern system, to 1,016 copies/mL.
"This uptick is concerning as wastewater sampling is our best leading indicator for transmission," assistant professor of epidemiology in the School of Public Health and Health Sciences at the University of Massachusetts Amherst Andrew Lover told The Boston Globe in an e-mail. "However, we’ll need another few sampling days to see if the trend continues before making any firm conclusions."
Get updates on what's happening in Boston to your inbox. Sign up for our News Headlines newsletter.
The wastewater numbers, which have become an important tool in tracking COVID activity in the Bay State throughout the pandemic, come from the MWRA's pilot study that analyzes waste water processed at the Deer Island Treatment Plant.
