Health department shows respiratory dashboard: low PCR counts but wastewater signals elevated in some watersheds

Summit County public‑health staff previewed a winter respiratory‑disease data dashboard and walked the board through current trends for COVID‑19, influenza and RSV.

The data lead said the dashboard displays multi‑year comparisons to show pre‑COVID seasonality and current trends, and pointed out that "this season, our last update, we had about 24 COVID cases." The dashboard uses PCR case data, age‑group breakdowns, incidence and hospitalization indicators, and links to wastewater concentrations. Staff cautioned that PCR counts undercount community prevalence because many people now use home tests and do not report results.

Wastewater monitoring, the staff member said, provides a complementary community signal: "we are seeing a lot of COVID in the wastewater, not so much in our case counts," with Snyderville Basin, East Canyon and Colville watersheds currently in "watch" or "elevated" categories in weekly updates. Staff said the wastewater measures are updated weekly and that a 13‑day trend and concentration code are used to flag changes.

Board members asked for clarifying context: when home testing became widely available, whether the dashboard could include national trend lines for comparison, and whether wastewater metrics could be more prominent next to the COVID graph. Staff said they will add explanatory notes (for example, a parenthetical for MMWR — Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report), link to wastewater catchment maps, and consider a national comparison line as an add‑on.

Staff also described a short at‑home test reporting form (a REDCap survey) the health department has built to accept voluntary home‑test reports and capture ZIP code, age and optional demographic data. The dashboard will be iteratively refined as user analytics and testing identify needs and gaps.

What’s next: staff plans to emphasize wastewater context on the dashboard, add explanatory text for lab and home‑test impacts on PCR counts, and consider national comparators and additional tabs summarizing the public‑health interpretation of trends.