wastewater:
It does not look very good.
(About 20 communities are in the MWRA South region including Framingham,
Ashland, Natick, Wellesley, and parts of Newton and Boston. You can find
out more about the MWRA Covid-19 wastewater program at
http://www.mwra.com/biobot/biobotdata.htm [1] )
Sewage testing is considered a leading indicator for potential Covid-19
outbreaks since 1) people can shed virus before they have symptoms or
get tested, and 2) this doesn't rely on how many tests are administered
to individuals.
Known new infections are following a similar upward trend. Massachusetts
reported more than 1,100 known new cases of Covid-19 today for the first
time since Spring. While positivity rates are lower now than during our
first wave, other data points are concerning.
Covid hospitalizations are up 81% since summer lows and +46% in the last
30 days. And, daily reported deaths are more than double summertime
lows.
"Another day of record highs," Johns Hopkins epidemiologist Caitlin
Rivers tweeted [2] about US trends in general. "Transmission will
accelerate until we slow it down. The longer leaders wait to act, the
more drastic the interventions will be needed to regain control. The way
to avoid lockdowns is to make smaller moves earlier."