Michigan posts statewide dashboard for COVID-19 wastewater monitoring
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The dashboard provides detailed, weekly analysis and interpretation of wastewater data and trends, providing public health officials early warning of COVID infection.
A new dashboard on the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) website displays regional and statewide COVID-19 wastewater monitoring data from the Sentinel Wastewater Epidemiology Evaluation Project (SWEEP).
With the help of a coordinated network of labs, local health departments and universities, SWEEP provides detailed, weekly analysis and interpretation of wastewater data, providing an early indicator of COVID that can inform public health efforts.
The SWEEP dashboard covers 19 Michigan wastewater treatment plants in 17 counties and the city of Detroit, showing site-specific wastewater monitoring data and trends. The sites, or “sentinels,” are distributed across eight different Michigan Economic Recovery Council regions.
"Interpretation of the data provided on the dashboard helps to quickly and easily identify patterns in SARS-CoV-2 levels, track trends and monitor distribution of the virus in wastewater across the state,” MDHHS Senior Deputy Director Dr. Alexis Travis said. “Over time, data from these wastewater treatment plants can be compared to other sampling sites and COVID-19 case data within the same region."
Other states and departments have used wastewater monitoring to detect outbreaks. The Department of Health and Human Services called it an effective “early warning system” as early as September 2020, when the University of Arizona was able to contain an outbreak after sampling wastewater from several dorms on campus.
Earlier this year, Virginia’s Department of Health expanded its statewide strategic wastewater sampling program to better test for virus particles in sewage. The state has also partnered with Old Dominion University to create prediction models.Currently, MDHHS has set up over 400 wastewater testing sites throughout Michigan, thanks to a June 2021 expansion of a previous pilot project designed to collect and analyze this data.