CDC: Oklahoma among 27 states at 'very high' levels of COVID wastewater detection

OKLAHOMA (KFOR) - In mid-August, more than half the country sat at very high levels of COVID-19 detection in wastewater samples. Oklahoma was among them and it led to more positive tests as well.

"If the levels are high in the wastewater, that suggests that the virus is being transmitted through the population,” the Dean of the Hudson College of Public Health at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences.

One of Oklahoma’s top doctors calls wastewater detection of COVID-19 a predictor of what’s to come.

"We saw a big, big jump in the wastewater levels and we got up to a 23 percent positivity rate,” Bratzler said.

In mid-August, Oklahoma sat at a very high level of COVID-19 in wastewater detection samples along with 26 other states, according to the CDC.

Our state health department has it at high levels statewide, depending on which county you look at, where it can fluctuate between “very high” to “moderate levels. As Bratzler mentioned, that trend predicted a spike in test positivity where one in every four tests were coming back positive.

"The good news is it hasn't translated to huge increases in hospitalizations, right?" Bratzler said.

He’s not sounding the alarm though, as there have been smaller downticks in both wastewater detection and test positivity in recent days.

"It was very, very small. So, I don't I don't put a lot of emphasis on that,” Bratzler said. “I think we need to wait and see another week's data to see if it's coming down."

There’s only 85 hospitalizations according to his data right now and that’s compared to the peak of over 2,000 in 2022. Regardless, he said it’s here to stay as an endemic situation. He added that yearly vaccines are the best way to protect people, especially an elderly population, with fall gatherings and school back again.

"Then all the other things that we know about, just good hand hygiene, if you're sick, stay home,” Bratzler said.

Bratzler said that the viruses variants are still very contagious. He does expect the FDA to approve the updated vaccine this week and for the CDC to act on that so people can get it.