Charlottesville and Albemarle County have joined a growing number of communities testing their wastewater for signs of a COVID outbreak. This big picture approach doesn’t identify households or neighborhoods where people are sick, but it could give hospitals a heads up.
Last spring, the University of Virginia’s medical center canceled elective surgeries and clinic visits to prepare for a flood of patients with COVID-19. That flood didn’t come according to Brent French, a professor of biomedical engineering at UVA.
“So far we have been extremely fortunate,” he says.
But the lack of patients meant a drop in revenue, forcing the hospital to furlough many employees.
Now, French says, the city and county are testing wastewater at five different locations, hoping to spot an outbreak early and to plan better. That’s because people start shedding virus, even before they know they’re sick.
“This could give you advanced warning of the Thanksgivng day resurge that we anticipate, and the other value is in predicting how big a resurgence it might be. That’s what the hospital is concerned about.”
In collaboration with UVA’s facilities management team, this testing program will allow the area to monitor thru September.
“It will probably be a year until we get that level of vaccination implemented,” French prdicts.
Charlottesville follows Hampton Roads, which has been testing its wastewater since April.
