San Francisco airport will monitor plane waste for COVID-19 variants:
International travelers can now contribute valuable data to COVID-19 surveillance efforts in the United States from above the clouds.
San Francisco International Airport has launched a new program to test airplane wastewater for variants of SARS-CoV-2, the virus responsible for COVID-19, the airport announced May 9. The program is the first in the country to continuously monitor sewage from airplanes, after previous studies demonstrated the potential value of this work.
Airplane wastewater is a key source for COVID-19 surveillance because international travelers frequently bring new variants into the country, experts say. As fewer people get their noses swabbed in health care facilities, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is looking for new ways to keep tabs on how the coronavirus mutates. Searching for genetic material in airplane bathroom waste can help fill that data gap — and even provide early warnings for future health crises.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 16, @06:02PM (1 child)
Fantastic idea. Based on things I've read, it seems really likely that air travelers (primarily) spread Covid around the world, so it makes total sense to "poop snoop" aircraft and airport sewage to look for more contagions on the move.
I'd go so far as to announce that we're (USA) going to do this for every international landing and we expect every other international airport to start the same screening asap. All results made public...of course then we need a group to track the results, who could that be, WHO?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 17, @10:49AM
(Score: 3, Touché) by crm114 on Tuesday May 16, @06:46PM
In concept this sounds like a sound idea.
Except, it will invariably be linked to the onboard cabin cameras.
"Seats 3-E, 24-A and 35-B went to the loo" Oh... we have their boarding info ... and (potentially) their passport info. From the 200+ passengers, we now know 3-15 people to search. Win!
From a "Stop Covid At All Costs" perspective, ok. But the CDC declared the PHE over on May 11 (https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/your-health/end-of-phe.html)
As someone in NYC area who experienced armed soldiers inspecting my car and person at random points after Sept 11, 2001, it was understandable. But at some point they stopped. (which is also understandable.)
It just smells like one more evasion of personal privacy.
<sarcasm>
Seriously - the only way to evade this is to bring your own plastic bag and "go to the loo" in your seat (with your knees wrapped around your ears because of the seat arrangements - that should not be too hard!)
</sarcasm>