Wastewater data shows east Orange County is COVID-19 hotspot

ORLANDO – More than a thousand coronavirus tests were administered at Econ Soccer Complex Tuesday, the first day Orange County opened a new drive-thru testing site there.

The county opened the site to divert some of the overwhelming volume of visitors coming for tests at Barnett Park.

Orange County leaders also said they chose the complex in part because wastewater analysis shows that part of the county is a likely coronavirus hotspot.

Wastewater analysis underway since the pandemic began, which tracks levels of a remnant of the COVID-19 virus in sewer water, shows numbers in the area have spiked dramatically.

Data from wastewater analysis is a good predictor of how much the virus has spread in a particular area, officials said.

The county official in charge of the project said that in the last three weeks, levels of the virus in the east service area’s wastewater treatment plant have surged to more than 15 times what they were just two months ago. It is the highest in the county and the highest level they’ve seen since the pandemic began.