Minnesota health officials seeing increasing presence of COVID-19 in wastewater samples

(St. Paul, MN) --  A statewide monitoring platform shows that COVID-19 cases in Minnesota have climbed steadily this month.  

The University of Minnesota's wastewater tracking dashboard monitors 38 treatment facilities in the state. Many have seen increases in virus detection between ten and 120-percent in the last two weeks. Health officials say that usually an indicator that more people will seek treatment for COVID-19 in the next few weeks.

State officials say holiday travel, a lack of updated vaccinations and waning immunity will also lead to more cases of the virus.