State officials are testing wastewater from Fayetteville for COVID-19.

Wastewater at the Public Works Commission's Rockfish Creek Water Reclamation Facility is being tested by the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services.

“People with COVID-19 shed the virus in their feces shortly after they are infected, often before they experience symptoms. People who are infected but never show symptoms can also shed the virus. By testing a community’s wastewater, we can measure the amount of the virus in a community-wide sample and see whether levels of the virus are increasing, decreasing or staying the same,” said NCDHHS Communications Specialist Bailey Pennington. “Public health officials can use this information to inform communities about COVID-19 trends at the local level.”

The COVID-19 wastewater testing is federally funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as part of the National Wastewater Surveillance System, she said.