Regular testing conducted by the Sewer Company for the presence of the coronavirus produced a positive result from a sample taken on July 5, according to a memo sent to the Block Island Town Council. The council and Interim Manager Jim Kern stressed that the science behind the testing was not yet exact.
Second Warden André Boudreau addressed the memo at the council’s meeting on Wednesday, July 15.
“We got a memo from the Sewer Department — they test for COVID in the sewer,” said Boudreau. He asked for Town Manager Jim Kern to “explain the document — a test was taken on July 5, and COVID was detected in the wastewater stream.”
“The email, which is the latest on a series of tests that the Sewer Commission has been doing at regular periods — testing in the sewer system for presence of the virus. This is the first one they got back that came up positive,” said Kern. “People can probably appreciate the science associated with trying to analyze the volume of infection in the sewer in the waste stream, and the science of trying to estimate what that represents in terms of the number of people
