Sewage tests show almost no detectable COVID-19 in Clinton Township

“This pilot testing is limited to only Clinton Township, selected because it’s the largest township in the state and very diverse. We’ve been giving the test results to the Health Department throughout the pandemic, so to share results of a week with COVID levels below what we can detect, was certainly good news,” Macomb County Public Works Commissioner Candice S. Miller said Thursday.

Laboratory tests of sewage samples pulled on June 9 from seven different locations in the township showed the level of infection in Clinton Township (population 100,800) had decreased to a level below the Minimum Detection Limit to assess the extent of coronavirus infection in that community. That doesn’t necessarily mean nobody in the township had the virus at that time, but that any volume of the genetic makeup of the virus was below the bottom measurable amount. That’s in stark contrast to three months ago, when the infection level during March increased 800 percent in Clinton Township as cases surged countywide.

Sewage samples drawn on June 13 showed only a very small detectable amount of the virus in two of the seven sewage districts in Clinton Township.

“That’s a slight uptick but it’s still good news,” Miller said.

Miller also announced Thursday that starting next week, sewage samples will be tested for variants of COVID-19.

“Our testing procedures have evolved, and this information will be shared with the county health department,” she said.

Macomb County Public Works has been on the leading edge of automated sampling of sewage drawn from the waste stream. The samples are sent to Oakland University for testing to detect COVID-19.