Live data from Hacker News

Graph showing level of Covid, flu and RSV in US wastewater systems, by city

publichealth.verily.com

21–30 of 223 posts

Re: Graph showing level of Covid, flu and RSV in US wastewater systems, by city

#21

I am continually surprised at how many people don’t wear masks at places like the grocery store even as cases are rising. I got covid over the summer and it was horrible! I lost two weeks of work which was a lot of money to lose, missed multiple dates with my partner I would have really enjoyed and felt totally isolated. Then I felt fatigue and brain fog for months afterwards. Afterwards I got the bivalent vaccine so…

I think washing hands and not touching your face are something that is very underrated.

Re: Graph showing level of Covid, flu and RSV in US wastewater systems, by city

#22
post #18

I am continually surprised at how many people don’t wear masks at places like the grocery store even as cases are rising. I got covid over the summer and it was horrible! I lost two weeks of work which was a lot of money to lose, missed multiple dates with my partner I would have really enjoyed and felt totally isolated. Then I felt fatigue and brain fog for months afterwards. Afterwards I got the bivalent vaccine so…

Masks are unlikely to have protected you much unless it’s a tight fitting n95 mask worn around the clock. This topic has been beaten to death on here, not sure why people continue to cling on to masks as anything other than security theater.

Because it's not security theater, as has been demonstrated time and again FFS

It's trivially easy to acquire authentic N95s today.

People just won't wear them, so, we all suffer.

Re: Graph showing level of Covid, flu and RSV in US wastewater systems, by city

#23
post #18

I am continually surprised at how many people don’t wear masks at places like the grocery store even as cases are rising. I got covid over the summer and it was horrible! I lost two weeks of work which was a lot of money to lose, missed multiple dates with my partner I would have really enjoyed and felt totally isolated. Then I felt fatigue and brain fog for months afterwards. Afterwards I got the bivalent vaccine so…

Masks are unlikely to have protected you much unless it’s a tight fitting n95 mask worn around the clock. This topic has been beaten to death on here, not sure why people continue to cling on to masks as anything other than security theater.

The primary mechanism these things are spread by is water droplets in the air expelled from the nose and mouth. A sick person wearing a mask will expel more moisture into the mask, and less into the air.

None of this is binary. It's not sick or not sick. There is a viral load component, where a persons body can fight off a certain amount of virus.

Re: Graph showing level of Covid, flu and RSV in US wastewater systems, by city

#24

Santa Clara has data for the south bay, and I couldn't find it on the verily page. https://covid19.sccgov.org/dashboard-wastewater

It's not on the Verily page because Santa Clara's monitoring isn't a Verily project. The page has "Source: Sewer Coronavirus Alert Network (SCAN) project by Stanford University"

Re: Graph showing level of Covid, flu and RSV in US wastewater systems, by city

#25
post #23
post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Masks are unlikely to have protected you much unless it’s a tight fitting n95 mask worn around the clock. This topic has been beaten to death on here, not sure why people continue to cling on to masks as anything other than security theater.

The primary mechanism these things are spread by is water droplets in the air expelled from the nose and mouth. A sick person wearing a mask will expel more moisture into the mask, and less into the air. None of this is binary. It's not sick or not sick. There is a viral load component, where a persons body can fight off a certain amount of virus.

Someone sick should be staying home, not going into grocery stores with a mask on.

Re: Graph showing level of Covid, flu and RSV in US wastewater systems, by city

#26
> What is PMMoV normalization?

> In addition to the pathogens it tests for, WastewaterSCAN measures an extremely common, harmless plant virus that is consumed when people eat. It is called pepper mild mottle virus (or PMMoV). By measuring the concentration of PMMoV genetic markers per dry weight gram of wastewater solids, WastewaterSCAN can account for how much viral material is recovered from each sample and changes to the “fecal strength” of that sample. For example, heavy rain that drains into a wastewater system can dilute the strength of a particular day’s sample.

OK, that's pretty clever and it sounds useful, so I guess I should turn on that toggle. But then I read further and see this:

> Our analysis suggests that both the concentrations of the SARS-CoV-2 genes measured as copies per gram of solid waste and those concentrations normalized by PMMoV are proportional to laboratory confirmed COVID-19 incidence rates in the sewersheds.

How can both things be proportional? Do they actually mean positively correlated?

If raw data is already proportional to lab tests, then it doesn't seem like there's any benefit from normalizing.

Re: Graph showing level of Covid, flu and RSV in US wastewater systems, by city

#27
post #18

I am continually surprised at how many people don’t wear masks at places like the grocery store even as cases are rising. I got covid over the summer and it was horrible! I lost two weeks of work which was a lot of money to lose, missed multiple dates with my partner I would have really enjoyed and felt totally isolated. Then I felt fatigue and brain fog for months afterwards. Afterwards I got the bivalent vaccine so…

Masks are unlikely to have protected you much unless it’s a tight fitting n95 mask worn around the clock. This topic has been beaten to death on here, not sure why people continue to cling on to masks as anything other than security theater.

I wear a flomask every day when I'm out and about and it works great. You don't need to wear it "around the clock." You just need to wear it when you're inside and there are people around you who might be infected.

Re: Graph showing level of Covid, flu and RSV in US wastewater systems, by city

#28
post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The primary mechanism these things are spread by is water droplets in the air expelled from the nose and mouth. A sick person wearing a mask will expel more moisture into the mask, and less into the air. None of this is binary. It's not sick or not sick. There is a viral load component, where a persons body can fight off a certain amount of virus.

Someone sick should be staying home, not going into grocery stores with a mask on.

You're contagious for 2 days before you have symptoms. You should wear a mask if you're around other people.

Re: Graph showing level of Covid, flu and RSV in US wastewater systems, by city

#29
post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The primary mechanism these things are spread by is water droplets in the air expelled from the nose and mouth. A sick person wearing a mask will expel more moisture into the mask, and less into the air. None of this is binary. It's not sick or not sick. There is a viral load component, where a persons body can fight off a certain amount of virus.

Someone sick should be staying home, not going into grocery stores with a mask on.

Sure, if you KNOW you're sick. Often you are contagious without feeling sick. Or maybe you just feel a LITTLE sick but still go to the store.

Re: Graph showing level of Covid, flu and RSV in US wastewater systems, by city

#30

> What is PMMoV normalization? > In addition to the pathogens it tests for, WastewaterSCAN measures an extremely common, harmless plant virus that is consumed when people eat. It is called pepper mild mottle virus (or PMMoV). By measuring the concentration of PMMoV genetic markers per dry weight gram of wastewater solids, WastewaterSCAN can account for how much viral material is recovered from each sample and changes…

Wastewater analysis is a new and very difficult measurement problem. There's continual discussion of how to do the analysis, and no strong consensus in the field.

This is the best part of science: not knowing, but working to discover.

Post reply on HN