Washington State University is now using wastewater samples to detect COVID-19.
Eleven residence halls on the Pullman campus are being regularly collected and screened. The screenings are designed to quickly identify and contain potential infections.
According to the university, the process has already been useful. In January, samples were taken from the Global Scholars Hall and a positive test result returned.
A second residence hall with a positive result was detected last week, with one of the 88 students testing positive and being placed into quarantine.
The process involves collecting wastewater samples from each building twice a week. A staff member using a long pole with a receptacle on the end to scoop up the sample. From there, the sample is taken to Allen School for Global Health, which runs it through a centrifuge to separate out the sentiment. It’s in that sentiment where researchers find the RNA that they need to determine whether the virus is present in th