ST. LOUIS — If you looked at the CDC website earlier today, you may have noticed the agency reported a significant spike in COVID levels in wastewater testing in the Midwest, including Missouri.
The lead scientist who does the wastewater testing in Missouri suspected there may have been a glitch in the way the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention interprets the numbers.
The CDC COVID tracker map shows clusters of areas in the St. Louis area where COVID levels in wastewater increased more than 100% from Feb. 15 to March 1.
The information is in direct contrast to the numbers from the lead scientist who heads the lab where Missouri wastewater is tested.
“Yeah, I think there’s a glitch somewhere,” said Dr. March Johnson with the University of Missouri School of Medicine in Columbia.
He said COVID-19 levels in wastewater have been dropping significantly in the St. Louis area and throughout Missouri and are at their lowest levels since April of 2021.
“The omicron wave really worked its way through the population and now almost everyone is either vaccinated or has been infected so the infections are going way down,” said Johnson.
Johnson said COVID is still present in very low levels in many areas throughout the state, but the omicron variant no longer is a threat.
“COVID is never going to leave,” said Johnson. “Hopefully, it will become just less and less pathogenic. It’s just going to hopefully diminish to the point of where we think of it as another version of the common cold.”
Dr.Jonnsons was puzzled when he read the CDC website reporting spikes in COVID levels in the midwest. He said the CDC is using information that he sent the agency and data from other states.
“To be clear, they aren’t doing measurements in Missouri,” said Johnson. “They are collecting our data, putting it on their dashboard, and I think some wires got crossed. So, we’re looking into figuring out why that is. If you look at the Missouri wastewater dashboard, that is a more accurate picture of what’s really going on.”
Johnson said he contacted the CDC to clear up the confusion, and the agency has updated its website.
