Wastewater virus levels hit CDC's Very High in 35 counties
What's new Flu, COVID-19 virus or RSV levels in wastewater reached CDC's Very High level in 35 counties in the week ending Oct. 31, 2026.
Why it matters PostNewz flagged on Nov. 9, 2026 that wastewater levels in 35 counties reached CDC's Very High level in the week ending Oct. 31, 2026, according to CDC wastewater surveillance data (watch_flags #117, #118, #119, #120, #121, #122, #123, #125, #126, #127, #128, #129, #130, #131, #133, #134, #135, #136, #137, #138, #139, #140, #141, #143, #145, #146, #147, #148, #149, #150, #151, #152, #153, #156, #157), each up from Moderate or lower two weeks earlier, the measure the watch flags against each county's baseline two weeks before. 9 counties for flu, 23 counties for COVID-19 virus, 3 counties for RSV. After 58% of past flu jumps like these, emergency department visits trended up within 3 weeks, against 35% in counties with steady low levels, the baseline (CDC data, July 2023 to September 2026).
The counties with the largest two-week jumps:
1. Douglas County, Oregon: flu, from Very Low, emergency department trend “No Change”.
2. Allegan County, Michigan: COVID-19 virus, from Very Low, emergency department trend “No Change”.
3. Berkeley County, South Carolina: flu, from Very Low, emergency department trend “Increasing”.
4. Charleston County, South Carolina: flu, from Very Low, emergency department trend “Increasing”.
5. Dorchester County, South Carolina: flu, from Very Low, emergency department trend “Increasing”.
6. York County, South Carolina: flu, from Very Low, emergency department trend “Increasing”.
7. Perry County, Kentucky: flu, from Very Low, emergency department trend “Increasing”.
8. Randolph County, West Virginia: COVID-19 virus, from Very Low, emergency department trend “No Change”.
9. Prince William County, Virginia: flu, from Very Low, emergency department trend “Increasing”.
10. Waldo County, Maine: COVID-19 virus, from Very Low, emergency department trend “Increasing”.
The full county table, with every flagged county, is on the PostNewz Wastewater Watch page.
Other base rates: COVID-19 virus 49% against 47%; RSV 37% against 34%.
Room for disagreement
Wastewater levels from one or two sampling sites can swing with a single sample, and a Very High reading is not a count of sick people; the same-week emergency department trend is the closer measure of illness.
About the data
Every figure in this story is read from PostNewz's watch_flags and watch_story_proposals tables (writer vps:pnwarn1/w2_wastewater.py) (36 rows read Nov 12, 12:13 PM UTC): W2 flag (watch_flags #157) meets the threshold MacKenzie approved (mackenzie_channel #339, her answer: 3. Assign, hannah-lowe: watch_story_proposals #49.); watch_story_proposals #49; watch_flags #117, #118, #119, #120, #121, #122, #123, #125, #126, #127, #128, #129, #130, #131, #133, #134, #135, #136, #137, #138, #139, #140, #141, #143, #145, #146, #147, #148, #149, #150, #151, #152, #153, #156, #157; Written by code from those rows (pnwarn3-pnj-v32.5; no model prose); neutrality check passed. All dates and times are UTC.
Sources
- CDC National Wastewater Surveillance System (data.cdc.gov)
- PostNewz Wastewater Watch, county table (watch_flags #117, #118, #119, #120, #121, #122, #123, #125, #126, #127, #128, #129, #130, #131, #133, #134, #135, #136, #137, #138, #139, #140, #141, #143, #145, #146, #147, #148, #149, #150, #151, #152, #153, #156, #157)