Traces Of Coronavirus Found In Lake Superior

The Bad News Is traces of SARS-CoV-2 have been found in Lake Superior, good news is researchers say it's unlikely to spread.

The Star Tribune is reporting that researchers have been testing Lake Superior water and have found traces amounts of SARS-CoV-2 at 8 Duluth beaches. It started when they were trying to understand how the virus acts in the water.

Star Tribune is reporting that the 8 beaches are Park Point, below Leif Erikson Park, at the E. 42nd Avenue beach, and at Brighton Beach over the Sept. 11 and Sept. 18 weekends. They added that the source of the virus is unknown.

The research team came from the University of Minnesota Medical School, Duluth Campus, and those researchers said to the Pioneer Press, the CDC is not aware of any scientific reports say that the virus can travel well and infect people in the water. They did clarify that it could travel among people that are not practicing social distancing and packed too close at the beach.

The CDC still reiterated that wearing a mask in public is a good idea and avoiding being in crowds of people. It is it safer to go to the beach and wear a mask, or don't go to beaches that are full of people, like some of the beaches in Florida were.

The Pioneer Press says water testing will continue through the Minnesota Sea Grant, which provided $10,000 to do the testing. The Duluth News Tribune says the grant supports ongoing testing for bacteria along Lake Superior beaches and rip current warnings as well. They will continue to test the beaches they have been studying and take water samples from other locations around Lake Superior.

The testing of water at beaches is funded by the Minnesota Sea Grant, which also supports ongoing testing for bacteria along Lake Superior beaches and rip current warnings.