"We are now nationally at a “LOW” level of SARS-CoV-2 virus in wastewater according to the CDC. Here in Santa Clara Valley, wastewater COVID levels are “Medium”. Sara Anne Willette’s wastewater map shows that there are no states with “Excessive” or “Very High” levels of SARS-CoV-2 this week. Only New Jersey and Utah show “substantial” virus levels in wastewater.
"COVID infections have decreased rapidly this week. Overall, test positivity is down to 4.6% per the CDC (and 15.4% per Walgreen’s who offers free COVID testing at their pharmacies). Emergency department visits for COVID and hospitalizations are down 25.6% and 20.9% respectively this week.
"On March 22, JP Weiland estimated that we were at 340,000 new infections/day in the United States, with 1 in every 98 people currently infected with COVID. That is a huge improvement from January. JN.1 and its descendants account for almost all COVID cases in the U.S. now. A study this week shows that higher levels of JN.1 are shed in the stool than for other variants. This could make cases seem higher than they are since we rely on wastewater levels of SARS-CoV-2 virus to calculate the number of cases in a population. According to the study, JN.1 did not cause more gastrointestinal symptoms despite the higher shedding. Higher fecal viral shedding makes me wonder if JN.1 could lead to an increased percentage of people with viral reservoirs in their gut which could potentially lead to Long COVID.
"From wastewater data, Jay Weiland predicts that the average American has had COVID 2.7 times so far. More infections happened in 2022 because Omicron and its descendants including BA.1, BA.2, BA.5, and BQ were able to sidestep our immunity."
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THIS American has had COVID zero times so far, and I'd like to keep it that way! So while everyone else behaves as if COVID was never anything to worry about, I will continue to take precautions.
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