Altamonte Springs city manager says sewage samples could show if omicron is present in Central Florida as early as next week. “Sounds very creepy,” Peter Pelletier, a Winter Springs man, laughed when the WESH 2 News crew asked him what he thought about it.”Don’t like the concept but if it works we’d be for it!” Pelletier said.City of Altamonte Springs City Manager Frank Martz is all for it too — all for testing the city’s sewage for the presence of the coronavirus.Martz said Altamonte Springs tested for the virus since April 2020. “It’s like the doppler radar of viruses. We can see the storm coming before the storm gets here, and it allows us to prepare,” Martz said.Now there’s a new storm to prep for and test for — a coronavirus variant of concern, omicron.As of Dec. 2, 2021, it’s not known how effective our vaccines are against omicron.This week, cases were detected in California, New York, Minnesota, and Colorado according to local health officials there.Martz wants to know is omicron here in Central Florida?”We will be subjecting our sewage taken today, on Thursday, and on Monday, to start seeing if it’s in that sewage,” Martz said. Martz said the city sends samples of sewage from water reclamation facilities out to a lab, and the lab will test for the variant.Martz said they use Federal Cares Act and American Rescue Act Funds to support the testing of water reclamation facilities that serve approximately 135,000 Central Floridians.An Orange County Utilities spokesperson said they also plan to test their sewage for the omicron variant. But the tests for omicron are still developing so they said they need to wait until they become available to them.You can find information on Orange County’s program here. “We’re able to see the amount of virus in our community without a single test being given, without anyone showing up,” Martz said.If the new variant shows up in Central Florida soon, the hard-working people doing the “dirty work” might be able to tell us first.
Altamonte Springs city manager says sewage samples could show if omicron is present in Central Florida as early as next week.
“Sounds very creepy,” Peter Pelletier, a Winter Springs man, laughed when the WESH 2 News crew asked him what he thought about it.
“Don’t like the concept but if it works we’d be for it!” Pelletier said.
City of Altamonte Springs City Manager Frank Martz is all for it too — all for testing the city’s sewage for the presence of the coronavirus.
Martz said Altamonte Springs tested for the virus since April 2020.
“It’s like the doppler radar of viruses. We can see the storm coming before the storm gets here, and it allows us to prepare,” Martz said.
Now there’s a new storm to prep for and test for — a coronavirus variant of concern, omicron.
As of Dec. 2, 2021, it’s not known how effective our vaccines are against omicron.
This week, cases were detected in California, New York, Minnesota, and Colorado according to local health officials there.
Martz wants to know is omicron here in Central Florida?
“We will be subjecting our sewage taken today, on Thursday, and on Monday, to start seeing if it’s in that sewage,” Martz said.
Martz said the city sends samples of sewage from water reclamation facilities out to a lab, and the lab will test for the variant.
Martz said they use Federal Cares Act and American Rescue Act Funds to support the testing of water reclamation facilities that serve approximately 135,000 Central Floridians.
An Orange County Utilities spokesperson said they also plan to test their sewage for the omicron variant.
But the tests for omicron are still developing so they said they need to wait until they become available to them.
You can find information on Orange County’s program here.
“We’re able to see the amount of virus in our community without a single test being given, without anyone showing up,” Martz said.
If the new variant shows up in Central Florida soon, the hard-working people doing the “dirty work” might be able to tell us first.