Cadence Living will now capture the biological information content of wastewater daily to test its community populations for the coronavirus, according to a news release.
"The wastewater testing technology, which will test the sewage outflow of the Cadence Living communities, will work by collecting samples every six minutes," according to the news release. "The RNA from the virus that causes COVID-19 is identified in the samples, providing key information about viral spread and viral composition to Cadence’s clinical partner Genetworx, for individual testing and early determination of the presence of COVID-19 or other infectious pathogens. Such detection will occur well before symptoms would present in an individual at a community."
Shared-space facilities and senior living communities have been among the hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, with more than 1,400 long-term care facility residents dying of the virus in Maricopa County, according to county health data.
If the virus is detected, Cadence would implement its safety protocol—which includes isolating individuals working there as well as testing and monitoring residents, according to the release. The goal of the wastewater testing is to allow for Cadence to contain an outbreak before it spreads, according to the release.
“Installing Pangolin’s new wastewater testing technology at our communities allows us to be continuously vigilant protecting our residents and team members from COVID-19 and other infectious diseases by unobtrusively testing each community in real time every day,” said Rob Leinbach, principal of Cadence Living, in a news release. “Knowledge is power. Thanks to this new technology, we will have an early warning of potential looming infections and be better positioned to take appropriate action. The exciting part of this technology is that it can also test for norovirus and other infectious diseases that are not being addressed by the COVID-19 vaccine. The combination of our hard-working team members, vaccines, wastewater testing technology and individualized testing is a potent counter to pandemics. At Cadence, we are doing everything we can to take the guess work out of the equation and be the industry leader in protecting our residents.”
