Montgomery Co. monitoring wastewater for COVID-19

In Maryland’s Montgomery County, wastewater is now being monitored to detect COVID-19, with the aim of getting ahead of any winter surges. “Wastewater surveillance will be a game changer for our efforts to better predict outbreaks and prevent them from happening,” said County Executive Marc Elrich, in a news release. “With winter around the corner, we want to be prepared if there is another surge in COVID-19 cases and this surveillance system helps us do that.” The county first announced plans for the surveillance in March. The county is collecting water samples twice a week at five sites and sending them to the University of Maryland for analysis. The data then goes to the Montgomery County Department of Health and Human Services.