Since the turn of the month November–December, a rapid increase in the number of coronaviruses in Swedish wastewater can be seen.
This is shown by the latest survey from Sweden’s Agricultural University (SLU), which examines the levels in 13 municipalities from Umeå in the north to Helsingborg in the south.
“The levels of SARS CoV2, the virus that causes COVID-19, have been at a fairly stable level during the autumn, but we have seen a very rapid increase during December,” says Maja Malmberg, researcher at SLU, in a press release.
The levels are increasing in all investigated municipalities and are significantly higher than in December 2021. In Östhammar, the levels are the highest measured during the two years that the measurements were carried out.
In some municipalities the increase continues during week 50, but in others the spread has decreased or leveled off.
The analysis shows that the subvariant omicron BA.5, which has dominated since last summer, is decreasing in favor of BQ.1, which is now increasing the fastest.
The municipalities analyzed are Ekerö, Gävle, Helsingborg, Jönköping, Kalmar, Tierp, Umeå, Uppsala, Västerås, Vaxholm, Älvkarleby, Örebro, Östersund and Östhammar.