Wastewater monitoring piloted as path to safe school reopening

The County of San Diego is working with the University of California San Diego on a pilot program that may provide a roadmap for schools to safely reopen while our community gets vaccinated.

The Safer at School Early Alert system, or “Sassy” as it is called by participants, is an evidence-based program to detect SARS-CoV-2 at schools and child care centers. The project began with technology launched as part of UC San Diego’s Return to Learn program which collects daily wastewater samples that are tested for shed coronavirus.

For the last four months, Safer at School Early Alert has been pilote...