Wastewater dataset on the SARS-CoV-2 sublineages circulating in Central Arkansas, USA, post-COVID-19 pandemic

The ability of coronaviruses to adapt to new hosts and cause widespread disease outbreaks poses a significant threat to global public health systems and economies. The severity of the COVID-19 pandemic has emphasized the importance of studying coronaviruses and monitoring them in communities. We investigated SARS-CoV-2 and its genomic changes in wastewater influent sampled from two metropolitan areas in Arkansas, USA, between April 2020 and March 2024. The data presented here are a follow up report to our previous publication on the findings from the period of April 2020 to January 2022 and show the SARS-CoV-2 variants circulating between February 2022 and March 2024. The levels of viral RNA were measured by reverse-transcription quantitative polymerase chain reaction and targeted three SARS-CoV-2 genes (encoding ORF1ab polyprotein, ORF1ab; surface glycoprotein, S-protein; and nucleocapsid phosphoprotein, N-protein). The identity and genetic diversity of the virus were investigated using amplicon-based RNA sequencing. These data provide important information on SARS-CoV-2 evolution and help to understand the occurrence of COVID-19 outbreaks in the community.