Susquehanna University has taken a progressive — and proactive — approach to keeping students, faculty and staff safe through the use of wastewater testing.
Research has shown that wastewater testing can act as an early warning system by detecting the presence of the COVID-19 virus shed by humans prior to developing symptoms.
Susquehanna is collecting wastewater samples every two days from 11 residence complexes on campus. Those samples are taken to Philadelphia where they are tested.
Results are received within 48 hours. If there is a positive result, students living in that residence area will receive alerts to return to their rooms for quarantine and individual COVID testing.
During this time, students will attend class and complete coursework exclusively in the remote setting. Meals will be delivered to their residence hall to be picked up or delivered to their door.
After individual test results are reported, students will be notified when their quarantine can be lifted.
In some cases, a presumptive positive wastewater test result will prompt a retest of that sample within 24 hours.
We thank our students for being cooperative and understanding as the university does all it can to protect the campus community.
