Results from community sewershed surveillance in Brookfield indicate possible increases in COVID-19 transmission. The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services saw increasing and elevated trends of concentrations of COVID-19 genetic fragments in wastewater from the Brookfield (Linn County) sewershed during the weeks of May 17th and 24th.
During the week of May 17th, the Department of Health and Senior Services also saw mutations in genetic fragments in wastewater from Brookfield that suggested the presence of an India variant, which may be more infectious than the parent strain of COVID-19 or other variants.
The Linn County Health Department notes sewershed surveillance metrics are not a direct estimate of the COVID-19 positive human cases in the area. Instead, they indicate that transmission is likely increasing among the population in sewershed areas.
The Department of Health and Senior Services and Linn County Health Department encourage residents to attend a free testing event at the Linn County Fairgrounds of Brookfield on June 11 from 11 to 7 o’clock.
No registration is required, and participants do not have to experience symptoms.
More information can be found at this link, or by calling 877-435-8411. Translation services are available.
