PORTLAND PRESS HERALD • January 20, 2021
Since summer, a handful of cities, towns and campuses have been regularly collecting samples of raw sewage from treatment plants to measure the amount of genetic “markers” of coronavirus that are shed by infected individuals. That information can then be used to monitor how virus levels are changing in the local population or, in the case of college campuses, target testing at certain areas of campus or even specific buildings to find infected individuals. Total cases of COVID-19 in Maine have increased more than sixfold – from roughly 5,400 on Oct. 1 to nearly 35,000 cases Wednesday – and deaths tripled during that period. Some wastewater monitoring programs are now expanding as the virus is surges across Maine.