COVID Wastewater Surveillance for April 5, 2022
The Federal transportation mask mandate is being extended for another 15 days.
CNN reports individuals traveling aboard airplanes, trains and on public transportation in the United States will be required to wear a mask until at least early May.
The mandate is now set to expire on May 3. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced Wednesday that it was keeping its mask order in effect, and the Transportation Security Administration announced it was extending the mandate for an additional 15 days.
TSA said in a statement, “CDC continues to monitor the spread of the Omicron COVID-19 variant, especially the BA.2 subvariant that now makes up more than 85% of US cases. Since early April 2022, there have been increases in the 7-day moving average of COVID-19 cases in the United States.”
In its own statement, the CDC said, “In order to assess the potential impact the rise of cases has on severe disease, including hospitalizations and deaths, and health care system capacity, the CDC Order will remain in place at this time.”
According to the latest estimates from the CDC, BA.2 caused 86% of new COVID-19 cases nationwide last week.
In Chautauqua County, the County Health Department reports the seven day average positivity rate at 1.2% with the CDC level of “low” for the week of April 3 through 9. The wastewater surveillance testing results in Dunkirk and for Jamestown show a decline in the amount of COVID-19 in samples taken on April 5.
We’ll be discussing more about how COVID-19 has affected Healthcare over the last two years on this month’s Community Conversation at 6pm on WRFA.
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