ESCANABA — The amount of detectable DNA in Escanaba’s sewer water has dropped, according to the Sentinel Wastewater Epidemiology Evaluation Project (SWEEP), but the virus is still holding on in the area.

According to SWEEP, the most recent sample from the Escanaba Wastewater Treatment Plant, dated July 24, contained more viral DNA that 35% of all samples collected at the site since the city began participant in the program in August of 2021. This is more than the sample collected two days prior on July 22, which contained more viral DNA than 27% of samples, but significantly lower than the sample from July 17, which contained 85% more DNA.

Looking only at SWEEP’s 15-day trends, which categorize increase and decreases in viral activity into categories based on the exponential growth or decay common with viruses, the city is experiencing a -100% to -999% decrease in viral activity. However, the change is heavily influenced by the 85th percentile sample.

According to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, which monitors positive COVID-19 infections in healthcare settings, the number of emergency department and urgent care visits with a COVID-19 diagnosis has significantly increased over the past few months. On May 24, only 0.2% of visits statewide involved as COVID-19 diagnosis, the lowest percentage since MDHHS’s reported dataset for 2024 began on April 1. The number of COVID-19-related visits climbed to its highest point of 1.8% on Aug. 3, the last reported date for 2024.

Statewide reported cases through MDHHS have dropped slightly since the end of July, when there were 3,013 reported cases on July 27. As of Aug. 3, there were 2,882 cases reported — still significantly higher than the relatively stable period between April 20 and June 15, which hovered between 663 cases and 888 cases.

The data from SWEEP and MDHHS fails to provide an accurate picture of how many people are infected with the virus at any point in time because cases that are identified using at-home testing are not included. However, county-by-county reports from MDHHS for infections and deaths, while incomplete, do provide a barometer for the severity of outbreaks. For the week of Aug. 3, the infections reported for each U.P. county by MDHHS are as follows:

Gogebic – 3

Ontonagon – 2

Houghton – 22

Keweenaw – 6

Iron – 10

Baraga – 0

Dickinson – 7

Marquette – 25

Menominee – 3

Delta – 42

Alger – 0

Schoolcraft – 2

Luce – 1

Mackinac – 2

Chippewa – 0