DAVIS, Calif. — At UC Davis, officials are taking proactive measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. One way they’re doing that is by checking the wastewater at the dormitories.
“So someone can shed the virus in their feces before they start showing symptoms," Heather Bischel, professor of civil and environmental engineering, said.
Yes, you read that right. There’s a team of professionals on campus that have deployed autosamplers in the wastewater.
“The shedding of the virus in someone’s fecal material is an early indicator of an infection," Bischel said. "The idea is that if we’re monitoring the wastewater, we might be able to detect an outbreak earlier before the symptoms start showing up.”
The hope is that they would be able to detect an outbreak early to prevent the exposure of it. And this is not the only proactive measure UC Davis is taking. Just across the campus, officials set up a testing site inside a parking garage.
“The objective was to help those students who needed to return to campus, return to campus as safely as possible," said Dr. Cindy Schorzman, medical director of Student Housing and Counseling Services at the Pavilion Parking Structure. "As students started to move into dorms, we started to test them for COVID-19.”
Since the site was opened, they have tested more than 13,000 students -- an average of 4,200 students a week. They currently have 50 stations available for testing, and the whole process takes just a few minutes per student.
“This was identified as a good space because it helps protect us from the elements," Schorzman explained. "But it retains that really good outdoor airflow to maximize participant and staff safety.”
COVID testing will be taking place inside the parking garage for the next few weeks. With the anticipation of inclement weather, they plan on moving this testing site inside the activities recreation center.
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