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COVID-19 detected in Hiawatha wastewater

By Greg Bebermeyer

05/06/2020

(KNZA)--COVID-19 has been detected in a wastewater sample taken from Hiawatha's sewer plant.

That word came Wednesday in a press release issued by the city of Hiawatha.

City officials said it does not affect the drinking water.

On April 24, the University of Kansas School of Engineering and the Kansas Department of Health and Environment collected samples from 12 sewer plants---including Hiawatha—to determine if the COVID-19 virus can be detected in the wastewater systems of local communities.

The release says the city has been informed the sample of influent wastewater taken in Hiawatha ( wastewater entering the city's sewer plant) tested positive for COVID-19.

The release says the city hasn't been provided any estimate, based on the test, of how many positive cases they believe there were at the time of the test, but it's safe to say COVID-19 has been present within the boundaries of Hiawatha's wastewater collection system. The research group has not performed any follow up testing as of now.

The release encourages residents to continue taking precautions to deter the spread of COVID-19 and to respect the social distancing guidelines currently in place.

No positives cases of COVID-19 have been identified through testing in Hiawatha.

Here is a news clip about the testing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mt4r4w3QaB4

Resources

Reliable, updated information on COVID-19 can be found on these websites:

STATE: http://www.covid.ks.gov

KDHE: http://www.kdheks.gov/coronavirus/index.htm

CDC: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html

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