With the accumulative coronavirus, disease-related death count approaching 7,000 in Orange County, the OC Health Care Agency (HCA) reported nine more deaths on April 06, 2022. With the total coronavirus-related death count as of that day, the agency has reported that there have been around 7,000 deaths since this epidemic started.
Still, despite the daily number of COVID-19 cases remaining low, Andrew Noymer of UC Irvine stated that there should be other methods to suggest the presence of this virus in the population besides at-home tests. Noymer implied that there could be a clearer idea about the existence of the virus with wastewater samples.
As for Noymer, people test for coronavirus disease at home most of the time but not sometimes. So, it is a lot trickier to interpret the test numbers that come through formal channels than in the past. Noymer added that the people who test have changed considerably. As per Noymer, the issue is that testing influences the curve of the coronavirus case count. Noymer recommended starting to test wastewater without any middlemen involved in the process.
The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) heads every wastewater testing program in the state, as per HCA. It is not clear whether the department presently tests wastewater for coronavirus locally in OC. It refused to respond to the questions of Irvine Weekly about ongoing tests in SoCal.
Noymer considers testing for coronavirus on wastewater a valuable method. He was skeptical that it would work two years ago. Noymer understood the scientific aspects of the method, but he was skeptical as many good ideas fail to work in practical situations.
As other nations start to prepare for another wave of coronavirus disease, Noymer stated that it would be challenging to predict its effects on the people of different countries.
Noymer stated that Shanghai is on lockdown and that extrapolating from one nation to another is challenging. As for Noymer, Germany may be the best international example of a country with a considerable wave associated with the coronavirus BA.2 variant. However, as for Noymer, it is not certain that there would be a severe wave related to that coronavirus strain in the US. At the same time, said Noymer, you cannot say that it would not happen either.
Deputy Manager of Irvine Melissa Haley stated that the US city is offering coronavirus disease testing at almost six locations right through the city. There are five coronavirus testing locations in Irvine, including a Great Park site.