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A first: Wastewater analytics helps guide covid safety decisions for reopening schools

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  • A first: Wastewater analytics helps guide covid safety decisions for reopening schools

    MEDIA CONTACT: Mathilde Sharman


    MWRA, City of Cambridge Set Example of Leadership in Opening Safely Using Sewage Metrics from Biobot Analytics

    Cambridge, Mass., August 21, 2020 – In a rst for the nation, the City of Cambridge is using wastewater epidemiology to help determine the safety of reopening its schools, with the help of wastewater data provided by the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) and analyzed by Biobot Analytics.

    “Data on COVID-19 spread from wastewater analytics is an essential component of our decision-making framework for reopening schools,” said Kenneth N. Salim, Ed.D., Superin- tendent for Cambridge Public Schools.

    Sewage monitoring is one of three metrics the Cambridge COVID-19 Expert Advisory Panel identi ed as key to reopen- ing and keeping school open.

    “These metrics will help us mitigate risk,” said Dr. Jamie Lichtenstein, Af liated Faculty at Emerson College and
    member of the Safety, Health and Facilities Working Group for the Cambridge Public School District, adding that such metrics should be used in combination with safety measures like comprehensive mask-wearing and improved ventilation in schools.

    SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, is shed in the stool of infected individuals, which ends up in sewage. Through regular analysis of samples of sewage, Biobot is able to determine incidence of viral spread before conventional clinical testing.

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