The CDC wants state and local sewage systems tested for coronavirus
The federal government is teaming up with local health departments to begin testing sewage systems for the coronavirus in an effort to catch the virus before it spreads rapidly, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.
The CDC in partnership with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and other federal government agencies will begin working with state, local, territorial and tribal health departments to collect data on the sewage samples, an effort they call the National Wastewater Surveillance System, or NWSS, according to CDC guidance updated on Monday.
The goal: To find traces of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes Covid-19, that shed from people and traveled through the sewage system.
While wastewater testing is not intended to replace clinical testing, it can help communities where Covid-19 tests are “underutilized or unavailable,” the CDC says. Wastewater testing could potentially have an enormous reach — 80% of U.S. households are connected to a municipal sewage system.
The CDC in partnership with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and other federal government agencies will begin working with state, local, territorial and tribal health departments to collect data on the sewage samples, an effort they call the National Wastewater Surveillance System, or NWSS, according to CDC guidance updated on Monday.
The goal: To find traces of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes Covid-19, that shed from people and traveled through the sewage system.
While wastewater testing is not intended to replace clinical testing, it can help communities where Covid-19 tests are “underutilized or unavailable,” the CDC says. Wastewater testing could potentially have an enormous reach — 80% of U.S. households are connected to a municipal sewage system.