{"id":417402,"date":"2026-08-26T16:48:08","date_gmt":"2026-08-26T16:48:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/417402\/"},"modified":"2026-08-26T16:48:08","modified_gmt":"2026-08-26T16:48:08","slug":"austin-covid-19-wastewater-levels-rise-in-central-texa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/417402\/","title":{"rendered":"Austin COVID-19: Wastewater levels rise in Central Texa"},"content":{"rendered":"

COVID-19 is popping up in Central Texas wastewater at a high level after months\u00a0at low levels.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The increase in COVID in the wastewater indicates that people locally are shedding the virus when they poop.\u00a0That signals to doctors and local public health officials to be on the lookout for the virus among their patients and that a surge in cases could be coming, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.<\/a><\/p>\n

Locally, the number of positive COVID tests and emergency room visits for COVID is still in the very low range, but increasing.\u00a0Statewide, the numbers are considered low but increasing, according to the CDC and\u00a0the Texas Department of State Health Services.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

Emergency room visits in Texas for COVID-19\u00a0have seen an uptick in mid-August to 0.4% of all visits. The last time the percentage of ER visits for COVID was that high was in March. Even with increasing numbers of positive tests, emergency room visits and disease detected in wastewater, COVID infections are not close to reaching levels seen in previous Augusts, but\u00a0Central Texas is following the same pattern as last year <\/a>with very little COVID in the summer until school starts.\u00a0<\/p>\n

At the beginning of August, Dr. Jennifer Christensen, a pediatrician with Austin Regional Clinic in Bee Cave, and Dr. Danielle Grant, a Texas Children’s pediatrician in Spicewood, predicted this would happen<\/a> within weeks of school starting. When children head back to the classroom, they are in small spaces with kids whom they haven’t been around all summer. It’s a great recipe for viruses to spread.\u00a0<\/p>\n

While doctors have seen a lot of stomach viruses as well as flu-like viruses this summer, a shift will begin to happen. By Thanksgiving and Christmas, upper respiratory viruses like the flu, respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) and COVID begin to take over the “what’s making us sick” category.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Back to school can also mean an increase in pertussis, also called whooping cough. Last fall, pockets of pertussis were popping up in local schools. Strep throat is also a common back-to-school illness, Christensen and Grant said.<\/p>\n

\nShould you still test for COVID?\n<\/p>\n

Yes. While COVID is becoming more prevalent, other viruses are circulating that could feel similar to COVID. Taking a COVID test helps you make informed decisions about whether you should stay home or isolate. It also helps you know that what you have is not allergies and probably not a sinus infection or other causes for your symptoms. For people who are early in the virus and are at high risk for complications, they also can start antiviral medications.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\nWhat should you do if you do have\u00a0COVID?\n<\/p>\n

You should stay at home until you are at least 24 hours fever-free and the symptoms are improving. It’s now the same advice as for any cold or flu. Also, the best practice is to wear a mask around other people for five days, even if you no longer have a fever. Your ability to spread disease continues for those five days, but is lessened after the fever has passed.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Treat the symptoms with over-the-counter medications, but seek medical help if you\u00a0are having trouble breathing, chest pain or any other symptom that goes beyond a typical cold or flu.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"COVID-19 is popping up in Central Texas wastewater at a high level after months\u00a0at low levels.\u00a0 The increase…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":417403,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133],"class_list":["post-417402","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-austin","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/417402","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=417402"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/417402\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/417403"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=417402"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=417402"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=417402"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}