Covid numbers dropping but sewage water samples point to high viral load

Coronavirus numbers have been going down steadily in recent weeks, but data from sewage water samples indicate that the viral load among the population is roughly the same as last November, according to Jan Bartáček from the University of Chemical Technology, who is involved in the survey. Last November, there were about five times as many people in hospitals, and 20,000 newly infected people a day. Experts say the present benign situation is due to the fact that the Omicron variant, which is dominant in the Czech Republic, is accompanied by mild symptoms. People are less likely to be tested and end up in intensive care units less often.