Anytime I hear water mentioned during a news story it piques my interest. The interview I heard yesterday on NBC News was so incredible that I wanted to share it, mainly because I think we are all growing weary with the constant coverage while seemingly no real progress is being made.
An official from the University of Arizona was being interviewed about a discovery he and his team made by testing the wastewater of the dorms. They were able to identify the presence of the COVID-19 virus in the wastewater from one of the campus dorms. They then proceeded to test each of the students residing there, found two who tested positive—even though they were asymptomatic—isolated them, and very possibly prevented the spread of the coronavirus campus-wide. When the wastewater was tested the next day after the two students were removed, there was no evidence of the virus present.
As quoted in the publication “The Hill”, A team led by Ian Pepper, director of the university’s Water and Energy Sustainable Technology Center, tested the samples five additional times to confirm the presence of COVID-19. What we really need to find out are who are the people who are asymptomatic that are positive, so this random testing, this use of wastewater-based epidemiology is going to be really important.
The worldwide pandemic has forever changed life as we knew it, especially with regard to the education of our children. There are researchers, doctors, scientists, and academic scholars all working feverishly to find solutions: over 170 vaccines under development; various testing metrics; therapeutic drugs for treatment; contact tracing after exposure; and on and on. This discovery can be transformational in life returning to normal for college campuses. Kudos to Dr. Ian L. Pepper and his team.
Links to sources: https://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/514125-university-of-arizona-says-dorm-wastewater-testing-possibly?ocid=uxbndlbing; https://www.azcentral.com/story/news/local/arizona-education/2020/08/27/university-arizona-covid-19-outbreak-prevented-dorm-wastewater-testing/5649579002/?ocid=uxbndlbing