The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention test hundreds of sewage systems nationwide for signs of the disease. Over the last two weeks, almost half of those sites showed rising COVID trends. But a local project to monitor the Flagstaff area isn’t showing an increase.
"It's good," says Crystal Hepp of Northern Arizona University, who leads the project. "Obviously we have to watch our neighbors throughout the world to see what’s going on there, but as far as Flagstaff we’re not seeing much COVID in wastewater at this point in time."
Hepp says the project has expanded to track other infectious diseases, and cautions norovirus is on the rise in the area. She says handwashing and disinfecting are important to keep the disease at bay.
The monitoring project is currently funded by university grants through the summer.
