Just two days before the official “100 percent” reopening of Texas, Houston Department of Health officials announced that the UK variant (B.1.1.7) of COVID-19 was spread across wastewater treatment plants. of the city.
Samples of wastewater collected in February 31 out of the city’s 39 wastewater treatment plants featured the UK variant, said Houston Department of Health chief physician Dr. David Persse.
“The prevalence of the UK variant in our wastewater shows that it is actively spreading in our city,” said Persse during a news conference. “This is another clear indication that we should continue to mask, practice social detachment, wash our hands, get tested and be vaccinated when possible.”
Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner expressed his concern about the UK variant on Monday, stating that Houston’s positivity rate is now up 13.1%.
“This is not the time to lower our masks or let our guard down in the fight against the pandemic,” Turner said at a news conference.
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The detection of the UK variant in Houston’s wastewater has raised concern among Houston’s doctors.
“This can be really worrying – the possibility of a fourth [COVID-19] “Dr Peter Hotez of Baylor College of Medicine told Chron.” We have several things working against us. Point one, we have a high percentage of wastewater that is positive for variant B1.1.7. Point two, we have Yale’s articles showing that the findings of wastewater correlate well with community transmission and the third point is that Texas is still lagging behind in terms of vaccination capacity. We don’t really catch up. “
Hotez asked Houston residents to keep their masks on, to remain socially distant in light of this UK variant detected in Houston’s wastewater.
“It is the worst case scenario. No masks, not enough vaccines and variant B.1.1.7 on the rise. This is not good news in Texas,” added Hotez.