ESCANABA — The amount of detectable DNA from the virus responsible for COVID-19 in Escanaba’s sewer water is still low but is creeping up from an all-time low in early November.

According to the Sentinel Wastewater Epidemiology Evaluation Project (SWEEP) the most recent sample from the Escanaba Waste Water Treatment Plant contained more viral DNA than 11% of all samples collected at the plant since the city started participating in the program in August of 2021. The prior sample, dated a day earlier on Nov. 12, contained more DNA than 5% of samples.

Given the short amount of time between the two samples, it’s possible that some of the difference between the samples is due to outside factors, such as the time of day each sample was taken. However, both sample mark a significant jump from the sample dated Nov. 6, which did not contain more viral DNA than any other sample submitted to SWEEP by the city.

According to the state’s outbreak reporting dashboard — which will be retired Dec. 17 — the Upper Peninsula is the least-infected area of the state for the week of Nov. 24 when it comes to outbreaks identified in settings where people congregate, like long-term care facilities, schools, daycares, jails, healthcare providers, and homeless shelters. According to the dashboard, there are no new outbreaks in any of these settings in the U.P. and only four on-going outbreaks, all of which are in long-term care facilities like nursing homes, assisted living facilities, adult daycares, and group homes.

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services’ reporting of individual cases that are identified in healthcare settings only shows two identified cases in Delta County for the week of Nov. 30.

For the entirety of the Upper Peninsula, the number of cases identified by MDHHS is as follows:

Gogebic – 15

Ontonagon – 1

Houghton – 3

Keweenaw – 0

Iron – 1

Baraga – 3

Dickinson – 2

Marquette – 3

Menominee – 5

Delta – 2

Alger – 0

Schoolcraft – 0

Luce – 0

Mackinac – 0

Chippewa – 2