Tulsa's Metropolitan Utility Authority To Consider Working With OU To Test Sewage For COVID-19

The City of Tulsa’s Metropolitan Utility Authority will consider working with the University of Oklahoma to test sewage systems for COVID-19.

According to the city, the Utility Authority will meet on December 16 to consider an agreement with OU to allow researchers to sample sewage for the COVID-19 virus.

Officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say several people infected with COVID-19 shed the virus in their waste before developing symptoms, which is why scientists are now looking into sewage.

OU began this process on their Norman campus earlier in the fall and also began testing in Oklahoma City.

Researchers said that the results will show how levels of the virus are changing in the population over time and help public health officials figure out what resources are needed to combat the virus.