To better monitor COVID-19 levels in the Granite State, the N.H. Department of Health and Human Services has launched a wastewater surveillance program, officials announced Thursday.
The program — set up at 14 wastewater treatment plants, including in Keene — will collect data to track trends in COVID-19 levels and provide a warning if and when those levels rise, according to a news release from the state health department.
Regardless of symptoms, people infected with COVID-19 can shed the virus into fecal matter, which then appears in sewage. Wastewater surveillance is especially helpful at this point in the pandemic, when case numbers are being vastly underreported due to at-home tests.
“This is another tool we can use to help monitor COVID-19 spread in our state,” Patricia Tilley, director of the department’s Division of Public Health Services, said in the release. “Wastewater surveillance does not depend on individuals testing for COVID-19, so this new program has the potential to provide additional and earlier insight about COVID-19 in our communities.”
The program is being funded by a grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which launched its National Wastewater Surveillance System in September 2020, the release notes.
Keene State, in collaboration with the city, began collecting sewage samples to test for COVID-19 in the fall of 2020. The college was not immediately available for comment on whether this program differs from the new statewide one.
In addition to Keene’s wastewater treatment facility, other communities participating are: Berlin, Dover, Durham, Hampton, Hanover, Manchester, Merrimack, Newmarket, Newport, Portsmouth (the Pease and Peirce Island facilities), Plymouth and Sunapee.
The data will soon be published on the state’s COVID-19 website, covid19.nh.gov, according to the release.
Funding for the Monadnock Region Health Reporting Lab comes from several sources, including The Sentinel and several local businesses and private donors. We continue to seek additional support. The newsroom maintains full editorial control over all content produced by the lab.Olivia Belanger can be reached at 352-1234, extension 1439, or obelanger@keenesentinel.com. Follow her on Twitter@OBelangerKS.
Olivia Belanger is the health reporter for The Sentinel, covering issues from the opioid crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic to mental health services in the region. A N.H. native, she joined The Sentinel team in August 2019.
Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily!
Your notification has been saved.
There was a problem saving your notification.
{{description}}
Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism
that is degrading to another person. Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness
accounts, the history behind an article.
Health Solutions Reporter Olivia Belanger keeps readers informed on issues like mental health, the opioid crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic. Before joining The Sentinel’s staff, Olivia spent a year as the health, nonprofit and education reporter for the Watertown Daily Times in Watertown, N.Y. A 2018 graduate of Keene State College, Olivia decided to move back to the area in the summer of 2019 to tell the unique stories of the Monadnock Region. The Bartlett native now lives in Keene with her fiancé, Ryan, and their Bernese mountain dog, Koa.
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep it Clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Don't Threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be Truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be Nice. No racism, sexism or any sort of -ism that is degrading to another person.
Be Proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
Share with Us. We'd love to hear eyewitness accounts, the history behind an article.