The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) added wastewater data to its Covid-19 data tracker on Feb. 4.
According to the CDC, maps, charts, and data provided by CDC are updated by 8pm ET. The tracker is a reflection of all wastewater data submitted directly to CDC’s National Wastewater Surveillance System's DCIPHER platform, which is subject to suppression criteria.
The wastewater datatracker aims to provide insight on whether the levels of coronavirus are rising or falling in communities across the U.S.
People who are infected with the coronavirus shed the virus in their feces, according to the CDC. Additionally, analyzing wastewater can help officials estimate how prevalent the virus is in a particular community as well as the variants that are circulating.
The data can provide an early warning system of coming surges or the circulation of new variants, according to the CDC. For instance, several communities detected Omicron in wastewater before any test samples from infected residents showed they contracted the variant.
“These data are uniquely powerful because they capture the presence of infections from people with and without symptoms, and they’re not affected by access to health care or availability of clinical testing,” said Amy Kirby, the program lead for the National Wastewater Surveillance System, said at a news briefing.
