HARRISBURG, Pa. — Nasal swabs aren't the only way to test for COVID-19. Sewage is now being tested to give cities a better understanding of just how prevalent the virus is.
"As the virus sheds from the human body, we're in a great position to get a very representative sample across our service area," said
Capital Region Water in Harrisburg is one of 400 wastewater facilities in the country taking part in a research project by Biobot Analytics. CRW supplies Biobot Analytics a weekly sample of wastewater to be tested for the virus.
"We want to do something that benefits our community above and beyond what we typically do on a day-to-day,"
The results from the wastewater tests show the number of people who have the virus is about 10 times higher than what's being reported through official testing. For example, on May 5th Dauphin County had 653 cumulative positive COVID-19 tests. A wastewater sample for that week of CRW's coverage area of about 130,000 customers showed about 5,700 people had the virus.
"There's obviously a lot more asymptomatic people than what we realized that don't know they have it or have very minor symptoms," said
The data from this project is being shared with the Pennsylvania Department of Health, and could help determine future outbreak areas before testing could.
"The real value in this type of testing is if you're facing a new outbreak," said. "It could give you a wonderful heads up as far as what could be coming in a week or two before a patient even hits the hospital."
More research is being done to determine just how soon the virus is found in waste, and how beneficial it could be to begin testing at wastewater facilities across the state.