By SHANNON HAUGLAND
Sentinel Staff Writer
City Administrator John Leach told the Assembly at a special meeting Tuesday that the latest sample of Sitka’s wastewater showed no evidence of COVID-19.
“This last report has come back of zero evidence of COVID in our wastewater system,” he said, before the Assembly took up CARES Act funding appeals. “It doesn’t necessarily mean there are no cases in town but of the tests we have done over this time frame, the results are usually coincident with the number of cases we’re seeing in town. This coming back as a zero I hope helps ease some concerns that there are a lot of asymptomatic cases running around.”
Environmental Superintendent Shilo Williams in an October 19 email said the city has started to sample the wastewater on a weekly basis, and the first sample sent to UAA lab last week showed a result of “non-detect.”
“Researchers across the globe are studying COVID-19 in wastewater and continue to learn new things about the virus, i.e. shedding rates and how the data can be used to help communities make decisions,” Williams said.
“In Sitka, we’re sampling for COVID-19 in wastewater to help determine the prevalence of the virus in our community,” she said in the email. “We’ll see how the results shake out each week, but I’m thrilled with the non-detect and hope we continue that trend and that we learn the virus isn’t more prevalent than our COVID-19 tests in people are showing.”
She clarified that the sample is taken from the influent into the wastewater treatment plant.
“This means we are not pinpointing a particular section of town but rather the community as a whole,” she said.
Williams said today the latest sample was sent out Tuesday, with results expected by Friday.
“This data is another tool in our toolbox to help the (Emergency Operations Center) make decisions for our community,” she said.
Leach told the Assembly Tuesday that while the recent result is good news, “That also does not mean to let your guard down, it means to continue what we’re doing right now because the efforts appear to be working.”
