Wastewater coronavirus tests are catching on after proving to be an early warning sign for outbreaks

Move over, swabs. There's a new coronavirus test in town.

Okay, so traditional tests are still necessary when it comes to preventing the spread of COVID-19. But testing wastewater for coronavirus' genetic material — something that was just an "intriguing laboratory finding" a month ago — could be even more effective than individual swab tests as the U.S. aims to reopen while avoiding new coronavirus outbreaks and resurgences, Stat News reports.

COVID-19 can be detected in wastewater as early as two weeks before a person begins to show symptoms, and also allows for widespread analysis of just how much of a city is getting sick. After a study pointed this out, wastewater facilities around the country started sending samples to labs, which determined far more people actually had COVID-19 than had been tested for it.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Over the past few weeks, more sewage plants have started sending their samples to labs and even conducting analysis on their own, and more studies have revealed that "you can pick up a signal about a week before the first clinical case," Stat News writes. And while the U.S. is waiting for a lab-to-lab comparison before rolling out a uniform nationwide sewage testing regimen, Finland, Germany, and the Netherlands have already launched national programs of their own.

This all may prove key as states move to reopen, as wastewater could show if COVID-19 is spiking again before patients arrive in the hospital. Read more at Stat News.