Being able to detect the COVID-19 omicron variant through wastewater testing without finding any confirmed cases in a county may seem contradictory, but experts say that’s not necessarily true.

Alan Harris, the emergency manager for Seminole County, said that states like Florida are sequencing far fewer cases of the virus than would be needed for a good representation of the spread of omicron.

“If you have a hundred new positive cases in Seminole County, we may sequence about four or five,” Harris said. “So, based on the four or five, we’re assuming that’s a representation of the hundred. That’s not a really good assumption.”

Harris described the process of finding the new variant while it’s still in the fairly early stages of spreading in Central Florida as “luck of the draw.” He noted that you need many samples over time to fully understand if omicron will overtake delta as the dominant variant in the state. 

Spectrum News 13 reached out to officials at several county departments of health who said that labs controlled by the state of Florida are responsible for all of the genomic sequencing.

Florida Department of Health (FDOH) Press Secretary Jeremy Redfern said that the state operates three labs and the Bureau of Epidemiology monitors for variants of SARS-Cov-2 (COVID-19). He said as of Dec. 9, 70% of eligible Floridians have been vaccinated.

As of Dec. 14, the CDC determined that counties in Central Florida are at the following levels of transmission:

• Low – N/A
• Moderate – Brevard, Marion, Sumter
• Substantial – Flagler, Lake, Orange, Osceola, Seminole, Volusia
• High – N/A

The CDC recommends that “regardless of transmission level, unvaccinated people should continue prevention measures, including wearing a mask in indoor public settings.” Harris pointed out that because the state of Florida outlawed mask and vaccine mandates, that ties their hands and puts more pressure on groups and organizations to encourage voluntary vaccinations.

“Public education is the message,” he said.

He added that getting the vaccine and booster are the most effective tools for protecting individuals and those around them from getting sick. 

University of Florida Health’s hospital epidemiologist, Dr. Kartik Cherabuddi, echoed that sentiment. He said that knowing which variant is dominant is important when it comes to the medical community regarding treating someone who is positive for COVID-19.

“The monoclonal antibody that we used for delta doesn’t seem to work as well for omicron. So, you need to use a different kind of monoclonal antibody,” Cherabuddi said. “The U.S. government has already purchased enough of the newer monoclonal antibody. It’s been months since it’s been authorized.

“It’s been, I believe, already shipped to Florida and is going to be available even as soon as this week, in a few days.”

As far as when Central Florida might see a larger increase in the omicron variant, Cherabuddi said that will likely happen in mid-January, following the holidays. He said it may be more of a combination of both delta and omicron, rather than omicron fully taking over though.