PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newrsradio) — One of the more interesting things to learn during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic was how wastewater could be tested to gauge just how much of the virus was in a given community. Dr. Marlene Wolfe, with Emory University's School of Public Health joins KYW Newsradio In Depth to explain how it works.
"It doesn't identify them. It's anonymous, and it's a community sample that's collected as a whole and giving us information about what is happening with the collective," Wolfe said.
Wolfe is also program director of WastewaterSCAN, a nationwide program working with wastewater treatment plants to scan for various viruses and diseases. While case counts and such don't make the headlines any more, the technology continues to grow and it is used to track much more than just COVID.
She describes what the technology is used for now and what we could see down the road.
To hear the full conversation, listen to KYW's In Depth podcast above, or subscribe on the Audacy app or wherever you get your podcasts.