Interpretive Summary for February 3, 2022

COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are continuing to decline across the United States. As of February 2, 2022, cases are down 53.1% from their peak on January 15. However, community transmission is still high nationwide. According to CDC’s Nowcast projections for the week ending January 29, 2022, the proportion of the Omicron variant circulating in the United States is predicted to be greater than 99%.

Omicron is extremely contagious. The COVID-19 vaccines available in the United States are effective at protecting people from getting seriously ill, getting hospitalized, and even dying. Everyone in the United States ages 5 years and older is eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine. Everyone ages 12 years and older is eligible to receive a COVID-19 booster dose if enough time has passed since completion of their primary series. To find a vaccine provider near you, visit vaccines.gov.

Wastewater (sewage) surveillance is a promising tool for tracking the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Many people with COVID-19 shed the virus in their feces, so testing wastewater can help us find COVID-19 in communities. Wastewater testing has been successfully used as a method for detection of other diseases, such as polio. Wastewater surveillance results can provide an early warning of increasing COVID-19 cases and help communities prepare.

On February 3, 2022, COVID Data Tracker released a Wastewater Surveillance tab, which tracks SARS-CoV-2 levels in sewage at more than 400 testing sites across the country. This marks the first time CDC’s wastewater surveillance data is available for download. See “A Closer Look” below for more information about this method of data collection.