BEND, OR -- The City of Bend is one of more than 330 cities across the nation participating in a study of wastewater for signs of COVID-19. Jeff Buystedt with the Bend Utility Department says the untreated sewage samples have been sent to a company called Biobot Analytics which is collaborating with Harvard and MIT. He says new studies show the virus that causes COVID-19 is shed in the stool of infected patients. Buystedt says Biobot Analytics can use the information to eventually help define the scope of an outbreak.