R.I. waste water reveals high coronavirus levels

In Rhode Island, the warning is now clear: From Dec. 23, 2022, through Jan. 6, 2023, six waste water treatment plants in Rhode Island had coronavirus levels at 80 to 100 percent of the highest levels detected at those sites. One treatment plant in northern Rhode Island was at 60 to 79 percent of past levels, and one site in Bristol County was at 20 to 39 percent of past levels.

“The truth is in the feces,” said Dr. Pablo Rodriguez, a public health advocate who is on the Rhode Island COVID-19 Equity Council. “It tells me the pandemic is not over.”

The waste water data comes as the state Department of Health is reporting ”high” levels of COVID-19 in three of the state’s five counties. Providence, Newport, and Kent counties have “high” levels of COVID-19 while Bristol and Washington counties have “medium” levels of the virus, according to weekly COVID-19 trends updated on Thursdays to reflect data from the previous Sunday through Saturday.

Rhode Island recorded 2,152 new cases in the week prior to Thursday, raising the statewide rate to 203.7 per 100,000 people, the Department of Health reported. The number of new hospitalizations shot up to 154, at a time when COVID-19 is the primary or a contributing cause of about 62 percent of such hospitalizations. And another seven Rhode Islanders died, bringing the total fatalities linked to COVID-19 to 3,789.

Rodriguez noted that when COVID-19 levels are high in a community, the CDC recommends wearing “a high-quality mask or respirator” and, if you’re at a high risk of getting very sick, “avoiding non-essential indoor activities in public where you could be exposed.”

He also noted that transmission levels are measured by tests reported to the Department of Health but many people now test themselves at home and do not report the results to the state. “So the amount of the infection is much higher than the statistics reveal,” he said.

The Massachusetts Water Resources Authority also is reporting elevated levels of coronavirus in Boston-area waste water.

And a group of Boston Public School parents is calling for the school district to bring back a mask mandate as Chelsea Public Schools and UMass Boston reinstated masking requirements starting Monday. The push for stricter COVID safety protocols from Boston Public School Families for COVID Safety (FamCOSa) comes after the CDC on Friday designated Suffolk County’s community risk level for COVID-19 as “high.”

In Rhode Island, there is no statewide mask policy, and Victor Morente, a spokesman for the Rhode Island Department of Education, said he knows of no school districts that are requiring masks now. He said school districts such as the Providence public schools make masks available to students but do not require they be worn.

Joseph Wendelken, a spokesman for the Rhode Island Department of Health, said the state is seeing an increase in respiratory virus activity, including COVID-19. “Given how COVID-19 is transmitted, this was expected around the holidays,” he said.

Another factor is the XBB1.5 coronavirus variant, which is “much more contagious” than prior variants, Wendelken said. The federal government tracks variant proportions by region, and XBB1.5 now accounts for 71.6 percent of the cases in the Northeast, according to the CDC’s COVID data tracker.

“The two pieces of good news are that XBB1.5 does not appear to be causing more severe illness, and the Omicron bivalent booster doses that we have been administering for months now appear to be providing good protection,” Wendelken said, noting that the XBB1.5 variant is a descendant of the original Omicron variant.

But the latest Department of Health data show that just 23.6 percent of Rhode Island residents age 5 and older have received a bivalent booster dose.

“We have been reminding people at every opportunity about the importance of getting your booster dose,” Wendelken said. For example, the state is communicating about boosters on social media, and Dr. Philip A. Chan, the state’s consulting medical director, continues to do media interviews stressing the importance of boosters, he said.

Wendelken said health officials do not expect the increase in COVID-19 cases to last for very long, but he said prevention measures remain important. “Regardless of the designation of someone’s county, everyone should take certain prevention measures to stay healthy and safe,” he said.

For example, Wendelken urged residents to:

• Stay up to date on COVID-19 vaccination, including recommended booster doses.
• Ventilate indoor spaces as well as possible.
• Avoid contact with people who have suspected or confirmed COVID-19.
• Follow recommendations for isolation if you have suspected or confirmed COVID-19.
• Follow the recommendations for what to do if you are exposed to someone with COVID-19.
• If you are at high risk of getting very sick, talk with a healthcare provider about additional prevention actions.

Rodriguez said it’s good that the XBB1.5 variant seems to be less lethal, although more infectious, than previous variants, and it’s good that people are receiving treatments with medications such as Paxlovid to fight coronavirus infections.

But he said Rhode Island’s 23.6 percent bivalent booster rate is “very low,” and the state needs to boost its booster rate, especially among older residents and others at elevated risk of hospitalization and death. Those are highest risk “should not be complacent,” he said.

“Everyone wants to pretend that it is not happening,” Rodriguez said. “It is happening.”

Edward Fitzpatrick can be reached at edward.fitzpatrick@globe.com. Follow him @FitzProv.