Spike In COVID-19 Shed Through CSU's Wastewater Prompts More Testing
FORT COLLINS, Colo. (CBS4) – As scientists at Colorado State University lead the state in monitoring COVID-19 outbreaks through raw sewage testing, the university confirmed they have seen a spike in coronavirus in their testing of on-campus dormitory wastewater.
Last month experts at the university told CBS4's Dillon Thomas the virus is traceable through raw sewage days before the carriers show symptoms, if they show any symptoms at all.
The university is currently partnering with multiple municipalities from around the state, from Pueblo to northern Colorado, to monitor levels of COVID-19 in raw sewage. By doing so municipalities can better forecast outbreaks of the virus. The same mentality was applied to the Fort Collins campus, where the university is now testing individual dormitories.
A spokesperson for CSU confirmed they have increased testing at three dormitories on the campus after noticing a spike in COVID-19 being shed through waste. They also increased testing among employees who work in the northeast corner of the campus due to a spike in levels in wastewater.
The staff has focused their dormitory testing on three dorms, specifically looking in to one wing of one of the dorms, and two other hallways. The university did not provide information on which dormitory, or building which faculty were in, were the focus of their further testing.
The university has already administered more than 9,700 COVID-19 tests since students returned to campus weeks ago. Most of those, around 7,400, were completed upon move-in by freshmen.