United States: From the CPDH reports, it is clearly indicated that there has been an uptrend in the number of cases associated with COVID-19 in the Bay area.
The officials stated that this region has the highest positive wastewater samples of any area in California.
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The wastewater researcher and data analyst at Stanford, Amanda Bidwell, said that over the last 21 days, “consistently high concentrations” of SARS-CoV-2 have been identified in wastewater samples taken from across San Francisco, as SFGATE reported.
Bidwell added, “Currently, we are seeing some of the highest concentrations we’ve ever measured” at these locations.
Throughout the city of San Francisco, the numbers are nearing those of the commonplace in December and January. Since SARS-CoV-2 infected persons get rid of the virus before they are subjected to testing, this method of sampling enables the prediction of upcoming spikes into the system in addition to data that may come from people who are asymptomatic.
Other than the mentioned areas in San Francisco, as of June 11, COVID levels were found elevated in other regions such as Vallejo, Novato, western Contra Costa County, Sausalitoo, Palo Alto, Sunnyvale and San Jose. And the virus isn’t just in the Bay Area, as once believed; it has spread.
CDPH stated, “Wastewater concentrations of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in San Francisco, as in many sites across California, have been increasing, which suggests that COVID-19 cases are increasing,” as SFGATE reported.
According to Bidwell, “Last year, we saw a summer peak start in early July 2023, and it appears that this may be happening a little bit earlier this year compared to last year.”
Moreover, Dr. Peter Chin-Hong, an infectious diseases specialist at UCSF, also mentioned that reinfection is “almost like clockwork,” although it’s mostly biological and also driven by human behavior.
Last August, travel for summer vacations, waning immunity levels, and extreme heat further fueled by the COVID waves affected the virus positivity rates and hospitalization rates, he said in his previous interview with SFGATE.
Our antibodies, sadly, wear off within four months, meaning that everybody who gets sick in the winter will be sick again around summer.
Chin-Hong added, “I think we will see an increase in cases, for sure,” and, “I mean, we already have. … My prediction is that it will be lower than last year, just because we have more immunity. But that doesn’t mean that some people won’t get seriously ill.”