Wastewater Helps Cities Detect Community Spread of COVID Variants Like Omicron
Original article from Newsweek , 2021
Major cities in the U.S. are turning to a unique tactic to detect and track the community spread of COVID-19 variants like Omicron: Wastewater.
On Monday, officials in Houston, Texas, confirmed the city’s first case of Omicron in a fully vaccinated patient with no recent travel history. Now, the Omicron variant has been detected in the wastewater at eight of Harris County’s 39 treatment facilities, indicating that the new strain has achieved community transmission in the area, according to the Houston Chronicle.
Harris County has been testing wastewater for COVID-19 for the last year. According to experts, the method can be one of the most accurate for detecting the virus, as patients can shed traces of the virus in their feces even if they show no symptoms or test negative for it.
So far, Harris County has detected Omicron at the following facilities: W.C.I.D. #111, Chocolate Bayou, Keegans Bayou, Metro Central, Northgate, Sims Bayou North, Turkey Creek, and West District. Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner took the findings as an opportunity to commend the work of the city’s health department and to encourage citizens to get vaccinated.