VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) - Scientists say that tests of sewage in Virginia’s Hampton Roads region indicate that coronavirus cases in the area will continue to rise.
Raul Gonzalez is an environmental scientist with the Hampton Roads Sanitation District. He told WAVY-TV that “wastewater signals right now are higher than they were during our last wave in July.”
WAVY reported Friday that samples of sewage are taken each week at local wastewater treatment plants in parts of Hampton Roads and tested for the presence of the virus.
The samples are taken to laboratories where genetic material is extracted.
“We’re sampling the entire community at once,” Gonzalez said. “We get an idea of whether the COVID-19 are increasing, whether they’re going down, whether they are just plateauing. Right now by the way, we’re definitely increasing.”
The findings are passed off to local health departments as well as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The data can also be used to warn officials and medical providers that there could be an influx of patients.
“That’s really where some of the strength of this work comes in,” Gonzalez said.
Studies are also occurring in Charlottesville, Stafford County and in other parts of the country.
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