ALTAMONTE SPRINGS, Fla. — The COVID-19 variant omicron and its subvariant, known as BA.2 or the stealth omicron, are on the rise in areas of Central Florida that fall within the Altamonte Springs wastewater treatment district, according to new data just released.

The Altamonte Springs data that city officials shared with the media show a 221% increase in the virus found in a sample since one was last taken; it’s up by more than 1,600% since March 10. The data is taken from the areas it serves in parts of north Orange County and south Seminole County.

That’s “substantial” to City Manager Frank Martz.

According to the data city officials released, omicron was found in all wastewater samples tested. BA.2 was detected in about 70%.

“Well, what’s really important is you track these things over time," Martz said. "So when you see a change in one test to another, day to day, you’re not that concerned. But when you start seeing (a) 1,600% increase since March, and we track this since March, you really do start to get concerned over the quantity of the amount of coronavirus, of COVID, in our sewage.”

Altamonte Springs helped build the nation’s sewage surveillance system and is now working with the White House and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to update national readiness protocols, according to Martz.

“But when you see a very large upturn, you know that something is going on with that mutation, and that’s what we’re concerned about,” Martz explained.