Water Sector News
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How wastewater surveillance could help New Yorkers live with COVID-19
May 6, 2022
https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/Wastewater-screening-helped-eradicate-polio-For-17141695.php
ALBANY — With COVID-19 here to stay — albeit in a less lethal, endemic form — scientists hope the monitoring of traces of the virus in wastewater will eventually serve as an early warning system, enabling governments to better anticipate, track and respond to outbreaks.
Since the New York State Wastewater Surveillance dashboard went live in January, some county health officials, including in Albany, have used it to alert communities of elevated coronavirus rates, but the science is still limited, experts say.
ALBANY — With COVID-19 here to stay — albeit in a less lethal, endemic form — scientists hope the monitoring of traces of the virus in wastewater will eventually serve as an early warning system, enabling governments to better anticipate, track and respond to outbreaks.
Since the New York State Wastewater Surveillance dashboard went live in January, some county health officials, including in Albany, have used it to alert communities of elevated coronavirus rates, but the science is still limited, experts say.
The state Department of Health-run program shows whether a pathogen causing COVID-19 is present in a community and whether community levels are rising or falling, according to Syracuse University researcher Dustin Hill, who designed the dashboard. Humans shed the virus in feces, even if they are asymptomatic, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.