Welcome to the March 2022 issue of WaterWorld magazine. We continue to move into the next stage of post-pandemic life this month, with new guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) regarding mask-wearing. By now, the vast majority of Americans no longer live in areas where indoor masking in public is recommended. Here in Southern California, for the first time in two years I’ve been able to see the bottom half of people’s faces at the grocery store, and it won’t be long until my first grader can go to school without a mask, as elementary schools begin to implement new rules.
While the new metrics still consider caseloads, the CDC will now take hospitalization numbers and local hospital capacity into account when issuing mask guidance for areas in the future. The change in direction from the United States’ top agency responsible for controlling the spread of infectious diseases is great news for all of us hoping to get back to our pre-pandemic lives, but I wouldn’t throw away all those cute reusable masks you’ve bought just yet.
In September 2020, the CDC launched the National Wastewater Surveillance System, which works with local health departments to track SARS-CoV-2 infections through wastewater. Since then, the surveillance system has collected more than 34,000 samples, compiling data representing roughly 53 million Americans. Recently, all that information was made available to the public through the launch of an online dashboard. A color-coded chart shows the 15-day percent change in the levels of the disease in wastewater. And, in mid-February (around the time the agency changed course regarding mask wearing), the data indicated a decline in SARS-CoV-2 infections for those cities and watersheds reporting to the CDC.
It’s great news, but it doesn’t tell the whole story. For instance, not every state in the U.S. is participating in the CDC program. Even in areas where wastewater samples are being collected, several populations are not able to be tracked through community surveillance, including homes that rely on a septic tank, prisons, universities, or hospitals that treat their own wastewater on-site.
So, even though we can move about maskless for the time-being, we should still stay vigilant in the coming months to avoid sending infection rates in the opposite direction. And, while we can search our wastewater for clues, the only way that we will truly end this pandemic will not come from a study.
I’m happy to report that my family has all had at least two doses of their coronavirus vaccine and will continue to do our part to keep our community safe and healthy as more restrictions are lifted. The pandemic has taken a lot from us, but it has also given us a sense of what matters: family, friends, health and compassion for others.
I hope that we can all take the lessons we’ve learned since 2020 with us as we move forward into the future — washing our hands more, and with less masks between friends. Stay safe, stay healthy, and as always, thanks for reading! WW
