(WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- A company that analyzes wastewater for signs of COVID-19 infections has had its contract extended in Illinois.
The Illinois Department of Public Health has given Discovery Partners Institute an $8 million extension through the middle of next year.
DPI has a separate contract with the city of Chicago to track COVID in the city’s sewer system. What it does for the state, though, is analyze wastewater in 46 counties and acts as an early indicator of increased COVID infections.
“Wastewater monitoring, we hope, will become the best warning system we have,” said DPI Executive Director Bill Jackson in a statement.
“It’s our own weatherman thanks to our predictive modeling. DPI’s applied R&D division is so proud to play a role in protecting Illinois citizens and improving our understanding of the virus.”
The state said the wastewater analysis can detect increases in the coronavirus days before people start getting symptoms. Nearly 200 samples are collected each week and transported to a University of Illinois at Chicago microlab for analysis.
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