OSU Expands TRACE COVID-19 Study to Redmond

A Team-based Rapid Assessment of Community-Level Coronavirus Epidemics (TRACE) team from OSU will visit Redmond neighborhoods from January 29-31 as part of a joint effort to determine the prevalence of COVID-19 in the Redmond community.  The TRACE field teams will invite as many as 600 Redmond residents to conduct a nasal swab test for SARS-CoV-2 the virus that causes COVID-19. Since April 2020, TRACE research has already taken place in Corvallis, Bend, Hermiston, Newport, and Eugene.

In tandem with swab tests, OSU researchers will also gather samples of Redmond's wastewater to analyze for genetic material from SArS-CoV-2. The Coronavirus itself has not been shown to survive in wastewater, however, people infected with COVID pass genetic "residue" into the sewer system leaving a signal of how prevalent COVID -19 is in the community.

Becky Johnson, Vice President of OSU Cascades, introduces this study in her letter to Central Oregon citizens.

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