Healthy Davis Together (HDT) is a nationally recognized joint project between the City of Davis, California, and the University of California at Davis focused on preventing the spread of COVID-19 and safely returning the city of Davis to regular activities while reintegrating UC Davis students back into the community. HDT has been a leader in innovative approaches to managing COVID-19 using a collaborative, scalable model since its inception in June 2020, leading to better outcomes for the community evidenced by both greater testing and higher vaccination rates in Yolo County than in any other county in California. HDT has innovated epidemiological interventions, environmental monitoring (such as wastewater testing), new technology, and public health behavioral education (empowering student ambassadors) to uniquely serve their university town and campus communities. HDT is also working to bring its wastewater monitoring program to communities in Central California, which have limited access to public health resources and data. The project is committed to sharing their learning with other communities, so that practices may be adopted in future pandemics.
