Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley have teamed up with the operators of wastewater treatment plants across Marin County to identify possible clusters of the coronavirus.
“People excrete the coronavirus,” said Jason Dow, general manager of the Central Marin Sanitation Agency. “So, it’s in the wastewater system.”
Dow told KCBS Radio that samples can be taken from a large region of multiple cities, a single city or even smaller areas. For example, samples from San Quentin State Prison are tested.
He said wastewater samples from San Quentin have helped determine where new clusters of cases have been.
“We’re doing specific sampling just for certain areas in the prison, also,” said Dow. “So, you can look at one complex, versus cells in a different area.”
The samples are analyzed in a lab.
“What they’re looking for is traces of the virus,” Dow explained. “What they’re looking for is genetic material. And they can find that, and it’s really a great tool.”
Results are received much faster than they would be from a normal COVID-19 test, he said.
The testing is funded through an anonymous grant.
