BOSTON (WHDH) - A key data point shows COVID-19 cases are steadily declining in the Boston area as hospitalizations and deaths also go down, but experts said residents still need to take cautions to prevent a resurgence later in the year that could harm vulnerable populations.
Data from the Deer Island wastewater treatment plant shows that COVID-19 cases in the Boston area are hitting lows not seen since last summer, which doctors from Boston University and Harvard University said was a very encouraging sign.
“I think it reasonable to suggest that we are moving to a considerably better place,” said Dr. William Hanage, of Harvard.
“I think we really want to take advantage of this good news,” said Dr. Matthew Fox, of Boston University.
But Hanage said the area is still seeing effects of the Omicron surge, noting that while hospitalizations are trending downward deaths have “only recently turned the corner.” He said consequences of the surge would continue for a few more weeks.
And both he and Fox said that while warmer weather is coming, the virus won’t be leaving.
“The virus isn’t going away, people want to factor in to their daily behaviors what their own vulnerability is,” Fox said.
“What happens over the summer is going to be driven by what facts are on the ground at the time in terms of the virus,” Hanage said, adding that another variant could appear in the fall and that immunocompromised people still face danger from the virus. “If we relax or become too complacent we are going to prolong the period in which some of those vulnerable folks are most at risk.”
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