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Ten-day rolling average COVID-19 levels in the Silicon Valley Clean Water sewershed, which encompasses Belmont, San Carlos, Redwood City, Woodside, Menlo Park, Atherton, Portola Valley and parts of East Palo Alto, have risen 32% in the last two weeks of available data from July 16 to Aug. 2.
In San Mateo County overall, wastewater data is showing that COVID is circulating locally at a high level. California is among the eight states where COVID is circulating at a “very high” level, which is the highest defined level of wastewater viral activity according to the CDC.
“Levels of COVID-19 infection are higher now in San Mateo County than they were earlier this summer,” said Preston Merchant, a spokesperson for San Mateo County Health. “We know this based on a variety of data including wastewater surveillance, emergency department visits and hospitalizations.”
The levels of COVID circulating in the Silicon Valley Clean Water sewershed have jumped 1000% since April 30, when the viral levels were at their lowest so far this year.
Though hospitalizations in the county remain higher than the spring, they have come down slightly from a high in late June.
“While COVID hospitalizations are lower than they were in late June, they are going up and are higher now than they were in the spring,” said Merchant. “The 7-day rolling average is greater than 20 hospitalizations now, and it was less than 10 during the spring.”
The current predominant variant that is circulating in wastewater throughout the country is KP.3, according to CDC data. The CDC’s Nowcast projections as of Tuesday, Aug. 6, estimate that over the next few weeks approximately 48% of new covid infections in the country will be due to variants KP.3 and KP.3.1.1. COVID variants are not tracked on a local level.
San Mateo County Health recommends that residents stay up to date with current vaccines, stay home if sick, test if symptoms are present and consider wearing a mask.
“Our health officers say that when COVID infections are high or increasing in a community, prevention strategies can reduce the likelihood of getting infected with any respiratory infection,” said Merchant. “If a person develops symptoms of a respiratory infection such as a cough and fever, it’s likely that it’s COVID.”
San Mateo County Health’s other advice for residents is to get help with your COVID infection if you need it.
“Testing for COVID can help (residents) decide what to do next,” said Merchant. “Which may include avoiding infecting people who are at risk for severe illness and/or taking antiviral medications, like Paxlovid, if they themselves are at risk.”
San Mateo County residents who need help finding or paying for healthcare coverage can contact the county’s Health Coverage Unit at smchealth.org/health-insurance.
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