Yosemite National Park, which was thought to be COVID-free, has found traces of the virus in its wastewater.
No one has tested positive at Yosemite’s health clinic, and no visitors have gotten sick. Officially, there’ve been only 36 COVID-19 cases in Mariposa County, with only one death and one person hospitalized.
But when health officials sent samples of raw sewage from the national park to a Massachusetts lab, the results show something very different — based on how much virus was in those samples, Biobot Analytics reports as many as 170 people in Yosemite Valley were infected and likely didn’t know it.
Yosemite started reopening on June 11th. Campgrounds, hotels, and restaurants have scaled back operations to follow state and local rules, and to keep visitors at a safe distance.
— Raquel Maria Dillon (@RaquelMDillon)