On Oct. 29, 2020, UC Berkeley announced that it had launched a new high-throughput pop-up lab – a temporary 1200-square-foot lab, rapidly set up in an empty research space in Hildebrand Hall – that, in conjunction with UC Berkeley and wastewater utilities and public health agencies from throughout the Bay Area, monitored the region’s wastewater for the virus.

Monitoring wastewater from a city, neighborhood or building is an efficient way to keep track of whether COVID-19 is spreading there. It also has the potential to provide an early warning for a potential outbreak, as evidence suggests that the virus can start to shed in an infected individual’s feces even before the person starts to experience symptoms.