University of Michigan gets $5.3M from state to expand COVID-19 wastewater monitoring – MLive.com

ANN ARBOR, MI Researchers surveying wastewater systems for COVID-19 at the University of Michigan can increase testing sites and continue monitoring until 2023 after receiving $5.3 million from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.

The funding is part of MDHHSs $49 million to support 19 projects to continue COVID-19 wastewater surveillance and implement COVID-19 variant strain testing of wastewater, according to university officials.

Testing wastewater for coronavirus will continue into 2023 thanks to $49M grant

Grants include $2.5 million for Krista Wigginton, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, and Kevin Bakker, an assistant researcher scientist at UMs School of Public Health; and $2.7 million for Chuanwu Xi, a professor of environmental sciences at the School of Public Health, officials said.

This new grant will allow us to monitor more frequently and for an extended period of time the prevalence of SARS-CoV-2, including a few variant strains, in sewage from several buildings off campus in addition to sites on campus that we have been monitoring, Xi said. Data collected will allow us to evaluate the situation of COVID-19 spread in the community and the effectiveness of vaccination and other public health interventions.

That data will be shared in real-time fashion with Washtenaw County, state health departments and UMs COVID-19 response committees to assist the development of data-driven public health policies, Xi said.

The funds will allow Wigginton to add three new members to her team, she said, and expand their work with wastewater treatment systems in Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti to Jackson and Flint. The team will be able to analyze influent and solid samples nearly daily to monitor for the prevalence of COVID-19 in those communities, and data from those sample analyses will be shared to a statewide dashboard, officials said.

Wiggintons team will also be partnering with Washtenaw, Genesee and Jackson counties to inform their local responses to COVID-19.

Were excited to participate in this important project for the state of Michigan to continue fighting COVID-19, Wigginton said. Wastewater-based epidemiology has shown to be a valuable tool to inform public health officials of case levels and infection trends in a community.

Wigginton has also worked with Stanford University, which has informed the methodology for the solid sampling procedure and analysis they will conduct in the four Michigan communities, officials said.

Other colleges in the state have used wastewater testing to monitor COVID-19, including Eastern Michigan University, which began testing wastewater in September 2020, and Grand Valley State University, where SARS-CoV-2 was detected in more than 50% of all samples collected.

Previously, the state received $10 million in grant funding for its three-month pilot program from September through December 2020. The program testing samples from 280 sites across 41 counties and the city of Detroit.

The average positivity rate of all samples was 66.3% between Oct. 1 and Dec. 30, 2020. During that time, Michigan was experiencing its second significant wave, which peaked at 7,270 new cases reported per day on Nov. 21. A few sites didnt include any positive detections, while many sites had 100% of their samples test positive.

Funding will continue through July 31, 2023.

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University of Michigan gets $5.3M from state to expand COVID-19 wastewater monitoring - MLive.com