Vance Boelter, suspect in shooting of Minnesota lawmakers, taken into custody in Sibley County

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On April 4 the federal government stopped requiring labs to report negative test results. With prior concerns of the usefulness of positivity rates and an increase in at-home testing, the Minnesota Department of Health decided to stop publishing positivity rates. Wastewater data provides another option for early warning of rising cases and its use could go beyond the Twin Cities metro. 

According to the wastewater data, omicron BA.2 is closing in as the dominant strain for Minnesotans. In addition, the prevalence of COVID-19 in Twin Cities wastewater is increasing, up by more than 50% over last week's measurement.

COVID trends in metro wastewater correlate with the uptick in statewide COVID cases. Reports from earlier this week have case counts topping 570, up from 440 the week before. This compares to a recent low point of 373 cases on March 20 and case counts above 10,000 for much of January.

Non-ICU admissions are low and stable, while ICU admissions are low but have increased a bit.

Indigenous Americans have seen higher mortality rates from COVID-19. Indigenous Minnesotans have also had the highest crude mortality rates of any group. What we know for Minnesota says the cumulative rates have gone up 390 per 100,000 for Indigenous Minnesotans and to 447 per 100,000 for Indigenous Americans as a whole.

Elisabeth Gawthrop

Author

Craig Helmstetter

Wastewater viral loading is increasing, but too soon to tell if another wave is ahead

A man fills a test tube with a sample of water.

Wastewater is king to understanding COVID infections in Minnesota

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