Tag Archives: wastewater

Yeah, COVID is still out there

Posted on July 20, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

Not the threat it once was, thankfully, but still a threat. The arrival of summer is once again coinciding with an uptick in COVID-19 infections in Houston. Infections are on the rise for the fifth summer in a row in … Continue reading →

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Bird flu found in Houston wastewater

Posted on June 19, 2024 by Charles Kuffner

No need to panic, but good to know. Bird flu has been detected in wastewater around the Houston area, Harris County Public Health officials said Tuesday. The source of the Bird flu, or H5N1, found in Houston water between March … Continue reading →

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Yeah, COVID’s on the rise again

Posted on August 6, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

We’re in a much better place overall now, but do exercise caution and get your damn shots if you haven’t already. COVID-19 isn’t going anywhere. Infections are rising in Texas and Houston for the fourth summer in a row, with many … Continue reading →

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Our wastewater COVID tracking is a big deal

Posted on July 14, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Nice to be recognized as a leading innovator. The practice of using plumbing to track and prevent disease isn’t new. A series of cholera outbreaks in the mid and late 1800s prompted many cities, including London, Boston, and Chicago to install sewer systems in … Continue reading →

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COVID rates tick down again in Houston

Posted on January 22, 2023 by Charles Kuffner

Always a good headline to read. COVID-19 data from the Texas Medical Center this week suggests the current wave may be subsiding, though experts urge caution as a new, highly infectious variant continues to circulate. The average number of daily … Continue reading →

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It’s winter surge time again

Posted on December 22, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, though I think you already suspected this. COVID-19 cases are rising across Texas two weeks after the Thanksgiving holiday, echoing last year’s surge of the omicron variant. There are more than 18,000 positive … Continue reading →

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I regret to inform you that “tripledemic” is a word

Posted on December 7, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

The good news is that we may avoid it here in Houston. A collision of three respiratory viruses — COVID-19, influenza and RSV — may not hit Houston as severely as other parts of the country, experts say, but pediatric … Continue reading →

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Is this just the calm before the next COVID wave?

Posted on October 17, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Things look good now, at least in the Houston area, but COVID never sleeps. As the U.S. heads into a third pandemic winter, the first hints are emerging that another possible surge of COVID-19 infections could be on its way. … Continue reading →

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The wastewater is looking good now

Posted on October 8, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

In terms of COVID levels, anyway. The COVID-19 viral load in Houston’s wastewater has sunk to its lowest point in seven months as the city puts the latest wave, driven by the highly contagious omicron subvariant BA.5, in the rear … Continue reading →

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Houston will monitor for monkeypox in the wastewater

Posted on August 7, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Seems like a good idea. Houston will begin monitoring its wastewater for monkeypox in late August as cases of the blister-causing contagion continue to climb, health officials said. Scientists will begin testing for the monkeypox virus in city sewage samples “starting in about three … Continue reading →

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The latest COVID wave may be peaking in Houston

Posted on August 5, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Hopefully… Texas Medical Center data released Tuesday suggests the latest wave of COVID-19 might have reached its peak in the Houston area, though several key metrics used to track the virus remain high. The medical center’s weekly data report shows that … Continue reading →

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The current state of the hospitals

Posted on July 21, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Worse than before, but not nearly as bad as before that. A small but growing share of Houston healthcare workers are calling in sick with COVID, exacerbating long-running staffing issues at some hospitals amid the virus’s resurgence. But despite spreading … Continue reading →

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Bexar County raises its COVID threat level

Posted on July 2, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Hopefully not a sign of things to come. Local health officials raised San Antonio’s COVID-19 risk level to high this week after warning of a “silent surge” just two weeks ago. That surge continues, according to data from the city’s Metropolitan Health District, … Continue reading →

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Are we going to raise the COVID threat level again?

Posted on June 3, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Maybe, but not yet. Coronavirus infections are on the rise across Houston, wastewater tracking shows, even as fewer people seek testing two years into the pandemic. Four months after the city saw record infection rates caused by the highly contagious … Continue reading →

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Checking in again on the wastewater

Posted on May 27, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

COVID levels keep creeping up. After the U.S. death toll from COVID-19 hit 1 million deaths on Monday, new data shows numbers on the rise again. The latest Houston Health Department wastewater results from May 9 show levels are now … Continue reading →

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Are we about to get more COVID in Houston?

Posted on April 29, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

We could be. New data from the Texas Medical Center shows COVID-19 cases have leveled off over the past week, but some trends suggest the Greater Houston area could be on the verge of seeing higher virus spread. TMC hospitals reported an average of … Continue reading →

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New variants being detected

Posted on April 18, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Got to keep an eye on that. Two new omicron subvariants that health officials say are contributing to a COVID uptick in New York State have been identified in Houston, according to researchers at Houston Methodist. Genome sequencing efforts within the hospital system have … Continue reading →

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Here comes BA.2 in Houston

Posted on April 2, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

But don’t panic, it’s just a change in the virus composition, not an increase in viral load. Houston is seeing an uptick in the number of BA.2 cases, with genome sequencing and wastewater testing picking up higher levels this week compared to … Continue reading →

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COVID may be down but it’s definitely not out

Posted on March 17, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Just a reminder, this pandemic hasn’t gone away. It’s less of a threat to us here right now, but it’s still very much a threat. The evolution of the coronavirus is likely to produce dangerous new variants that escape built-up … Continue reading →

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The CDC gets in on the “track COVID in the wastewater” project

Posted on February 10, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

Good to see. U.S. public health officials are expanding their monitoring of Covid-19 in sewage, which has become a crucial early warning for surges of new cases. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention this week began sharing virus wastewater … Continue reading →

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The wastewater is once again in our favor

Posted on February 5, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

But there’s still a lot of room for improvement. The latest samples of Houston’s flushed wastewater show diminishing traces of COVID-19 across the region — a promising sign that the highly contagious omicron variant is in retreat. Hospital admissions are … Continue reading →

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Have we reached peak omicron?

Posted on January 26, 2022 by Charles Kuffner

I sure hope so (fingers crossed). Omicron’s swift and sudden surge may have peaked, experts said Monday, but hospitals are likely to remain full in the coming weeks, with the highly contagious COVID-19 strain not expected to recede until March. … Continue reading →

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Here comes omicron

Posted on December 17, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Ready or not. Houston is seeing early signs of another wave of COVID-19 infections, fueled in part by a fast-spreading omicron variant, as public health officials warn of a nationwide spike in cases as early as next month. The daily … Continue reading →

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A broader look at the Houston project to track COVID in wastewater

Posted on December 16, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

The DMN tells me things I did not know about my current favorite public works project. The [Houston] health department is conducting the wastewater surveillance for COVID-19 in partnership with researchers at Rice University and Baylor College of Medicine. Wastewater … Continue reading →

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Yes, omicron was found in the wastewater

Posted on December 8, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

In case you missed it. Houston has detected the omicron variant of the virus that causes COVID-19 in eight of its wastewater treatment facilities, confirming the new strain is spreading in the city. A Harris County resident was the first … Continue reading →

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Our wastewater treatment plant is ready for omicron

Posted on December 4, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

One small bit of reassurance in these uncertain times. The Houston Health Department is testing the city’s wastewater for the new COVID variant, omicron, which experts say could soon be found in the U.S. The department tests the city’s wastewater weekly for COVID strains. … Continue reading →

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A bit of good news in the wastewater

Posted on September 12, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

I’ll take it where I can get it. Community spread of coronavirus is on the decline from its recent summertime high, but experts warn that Labor Day gatherings and kids’ return to classrooms could bring a rash of new infections … Continue reading →

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Yes, the wastewater is also pointing to a COVID surge

Posted on August 22, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

In case you were wondering. There is more COVID-19 in the city’s wastewater system now than at any time in the pandemic, city officials said Wednesday, the latest warning that the virus is spreading at an unprecedented rate. Dr. David … Continue reading →

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The COVID wastewater tracking project has been a big success

Posted on May 4, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

This has been one of the best things to come out of this interminable and miserable COVID experience. Lauren Stadler’s environmental engineering students always pose the same question at the beginning of a semester: “What happens to water in the … Continue reading →

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Finally, a bit of good COVID news

Posted on January 24, 2021 by Charles Kuffner

Naturally, it comes from the wastewater. Researchers who study sewage to monitor the pandemic are detecting less virus in Houston than they have in months, a positive signal that could indicate a forthcoming drop in new COVID-19 cases, doctors said. … Continue reading →

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It’s still not too late to prevent a big spike in COVID infections

Posted on October 31, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

But it will be soon. A rise in COVID-19 cases has health care officials and government leaders pleading with Houstonians: Act now to prevent, or at least minimize, a third wave of infections across Greater Houston. “This feels a lot … Continue reading →

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We really can track COVID-19 through wastewater

Posted on October 4, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

This is terrific news. Researchers with the city, Rice University and Baylor College of Medicine were able to sniff out a potential second outbreak of COVID-19 at a homeless shelter in downtown Houston earlier this year by looking down its … Continue reading →

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When Houston is more like Austin

Posted on August 6, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

In a climate sense. Which is to say, drier because of climate change. A new study predicts that Texas’ climate is going to get drastically drier because of climate change. The journal Earth’s Future recently published the study looking at … Continue reading →

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The reopening metric we should be heeding

Posted on June 5, 2020 by Charles Kuffner

From Twitter: This graph is amazing. It shows that measuring #SARSCoV2 levels in municipal sewage almost perfectly predicts forthcoming #COVID19 cases with a full week’s notice (R=0.994). It’s one of several discoveries in this new study from @Yale: https://medrxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.05.19.20105999v1.full.pdf. C-19 … Continue reading →

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