Editor’s note: The Greenfield Recorder has been providing regular updates on the risk level of COVID-19 transmission as wastewater testing results are received.

With the volume of virus in wastewater at its highest since tracking began last spring, the COVID-19 transmission risk remains “high” in the four communities involved in the Contact Tracing Collaborative, which consists of Greenfield, Deerfield, Montague and Sunderland.

Between the four municipalities, there are six active cluster infections (of three or more people at one site), according to Greenfield Health Director Jennifer Hoffman. In the last two weeks, there have been nine deaths attributed to COVID-19, she said.

As a result, the municipalities remain in the red zone for the second consecutive week, with a “high” risk of COVID-19 transmission.

“I can’t emphasize enough to consider wearing masks in public places,” Hoffman said. “The new variant … it’s highly contagious. We are seeing people that were positive with a different strain 30 days ago now positive with this new strain.”

To compensate for the loss of the PCR testing sites at Greenfield Community College and the South County Senior Center, members of the collaborative are adding school absenteeism as a new measure. Specifically, public health officials will be looking at school absences for respiratory viruses, such as COVID-19, flu, rhinovirus and respiratory syncytial (RSV).

“We’re just back from vacation, and there’s been a significant absent rate in all towns,” she said, adding this includes both students and teachers.

Hoffman said the spike in COVID-19 in the area is just beginning to catch the holiday gatherings.

“Wastewater is always higher before we see people that are sick,” she noted.

In combination with wastewater testing — people with an active COVID-19 infection excrete the virus in their stool, and samples from wastewater treatment plants can be analyzed to estimate community virus levels — the four municipalities factor in hospitalization numbers, positivity rates and case numbers to determine risk levels. Health officials also continue to talk with nursing homes, businesses and schools to track cluster infections.

The following three zones, defined by the Contact Tracing Collaborative, are used to gauge risk levels of COVID-19 transmission in the four communities. For the risk level in the area to change, at least two measures need to apply.

Red zone: High COVID-19 risk

Masking recommended.

■Cluster infections (of three or more people at one site): five or more.

■Percent positive tests out of total tests performed: greater than 10%.

■Hospitalizations: five or more.

■Increase in case trend.

■Increase in wastewater trend.

Yellow zone: Moderate COVID-19 risk

Masking encouraged.

■One to four cluster infections.

■Stable positive testing.

■Fewer than five hospitalizations.

■Stable case incidence.

■Stable wastewater.

Green zone: Low to minimal COVID-19 risk

Masking optional.

■No cluster infections.

■Decrease in positive tests.

■Decrease in hospitalizations.

■Decrease in case incidence.

■Decreased virus copies in wastewater.

Reporter Mary Byrne can be reached at mbyrne@recorder.com or 413-930-4429. Twitter: @MaryEByrne.

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