Increasing presence of COVID-19 found in Milwaukee wastewater, health officials 'not yet alarmed'

Sarah Volpenhein and Drake Bentley, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
·4 min read
The Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District has accepted treated milk from farms that didn't have a market for it.

An uptick in COVID-19 virus has been detected in wastewater from a Milwaukee sewer shed, a sign that COVID-19 transmission is likely up in the area, a state health official told reporters during a briefing Friday.

“We’re seeing some consistent increases that would be indicative of increasing community transmission of COVID-19” at some sites, including the Jones Island sewer shed in Milwaukee, said Jon Meiman, chief medical officer at the state Department of Health Services and state epidemiologist for environmental and occupational health.

Wastewater monitoring is likely to become an even more important tool for early detection of changes in COVID-19 transmission as fewer people seek out COVID-19 testing or as more people take at-home tests, whose results typically are not reported to health officials. The virus can be detected in people’s waste shortly after they are infected, even before they experience symptoms, according to DHS.

“I see that being of particular value as we get farther into this pandemic and COVID-19 becomes endemic,” Meiman said of wastewater monitoring.

It is unclear how concerning the uptick in COVID-19 wastewater levels is.

At a press briefing on Monday, Milwaukee Health Commissioner Kirsten Johnson said the higher levels “gives me pause,” but that she was “not yet alarmed.”

Milwaukee health officials have said future surges and new variants are a real possibility and have urged people who have yet to be vaccinated to get the shot.

They are looking at other indicators as well, such as reports of school or long-term care facility outbreaks, for signs of rising COVID-19 transmission.

“Wastewater – it’s a newer tool for us to utilize,” Johnson said on Monday. “One of the challenges we have is how meaningful are these fluctuations.”

Track COVID and the vaccine in Wisconsin: See the latest data on cases, deaths and administered doses

Latest COVID-19 numbers

  • New cases reported (Friday): 365

  • New deaths reported (Friday), confirmed: 52

  • New deaths reported (Friday), probable: 7

  • New deaths reported (this week), confirmed: 209

  • New deaths reported (this week), probable: 38

  • Number hospitalized: 254 (intensive care: 38); down 475 patients from a month ago

  • Seven-day average of daily cases: 338 (down 1,037 cases from one month ago)

  • Seven-day average of confirmed daily deaths: 30 (up 6 deaths from a month ago)

  • Seven-day average of new deaths reported within 30 days of death: 10 (down 4 deaths from a month ago)

  • Seven-day average positivity rate: 2.8% of all COVID-19 tests given

  • Total cases since the start of pandemic: 1,388,821

  • Total confirmed deaths: 12,503

  • Total probable deaths: 1,457

Latest vaccine numbers

  • Total doses administered: 9,355,235

  • Seven-day average of daily doses: 2,319

  • Weekly doses administered: 10,795 (as of Friday)

  • Total booster doses administered: 1,954,336

  • Seven-day average of daily booster doses: 1,203

  • Residents who have received one dose: 3,736,301 (64.1% of the population)

  • Residents who are fully vaccinated: 3,536,781 (60.6% of the population)

  • Residents who have received a booster dose: 1,937,468 (33.2% of the population)

  • Residents ages 5 to 11 with at least one dose: 131,288 (26.9% of age group)

  • Residents ages 12 to 17 with at least one dose: 271,413 (61.1% of age group)

  • Residents ages 18 to 24 with at least one dose: 325,652 (59.8% of age group)

  • Residents ages 25 to 34 with at least one dose: 473,344 (63.9% of age group)

  • Residents ages 35 to 44 with at least one dose: 498,502 (69% of age group)

  • Residents ages 45 to 54 with at least one dose: 499,687 (71.5% of age group)

  • Residents ages 55 to 64 with at least one dose: 639,426 (78% of age group)

  • Residents 65 and older with at least one dose: 896,989 (85.6% of age group)

Variant case sequencing

State and private labs regularly do further tests on a portion of positive COVID-19 samples to find the prevalence of different variants of the virus. The numbers below are just a fraction of the total number of variant cases.

Omicron variant was identified in more than 99% of tests sequenced during the week starting Feb. 20. Delta was identified in less than 1% of tests sequenced.

Contact Drake Bentley at (414) 391-5647 or DBentley1@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @DrakeBentleyMJS.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Increasing presence of COVID-19 found in Milwaukee wastewater