Wastewater-based epidemiology has a significant part to play in identifying ‘silent’ Covid-19 cases in the community, research presented at the latest Water Action Platform webinar demonstrates. The regular webinars, which are open to all, are hosted by Isle chairman Dr Piers Clark and look at the new coronavirus and global pandemic through a water industry lens.
Local officials in Oregon, California, New York, Utah, Florida and many other places are collecting sewage samples to test for coronavirus, which experts say could allow for detection of hotspots for the disease before the diagnosis of clinical cases.
One of the biggest unknowns about coronavirus is how it spreads within a community, especially with asymptomatic carriers and minimal testing capabilities. In a new international effort, the City of Boise in partnership with the lab Biobot, has started sampling the city’s wastewater system to collect data on community levels of COVID-19.
The latest testing of raw sewage at Lake County Special Districts’ four treatment facilities found no presence of the virus that causes COVID-19 at any of the plants late in April, despite the fact that samples earlier in the month confirmed its presence.
Special Districts Administrator Jan Coppinger reported Friday that she received the latest test results from Biobot, a Massachusetts firm that is offering the testing as part of a pro bono program it’s conducting along with MIT, Harvard and Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
The tests are used to detect the presence of SARS-Cov-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The virus is shed in the stools of infected people.
Sewage testing also has successfully tracked the poliovirus and consumption of drugs such as opioids, according to Dr. Mariana Matus, chief executive officer and cofounder of Biobot.
Biobot is seeking to use wastewater testing to proactively detect outbreaks and help governments and communities to get ahead of public health crises like the COVID-19 pandemic.
California regulators are seizing on a chance to study the public health effects of air pollution, as stay-at-home orders and drops in freight traffic related to the coronavirus pandemic have presented a unique research opportunity.
As Americans stockpile disinfecting wipes and paper towels to clean their homes more often to reduce the risk of coronavirus, California’s state water regulators on Tuesday urged them to keep one thing in mind: Don’t flush them down the toilet.
Tap water is more strictly regulated than the bottled water being hoarded, officials say. Tap water is treated specifically to remove infectants like the new coronavirus, which “is a type of virus that is particularly susceptible to disinfection and standard treatment,” according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency website.
