Not Coronavirus Testing Or Contact Tracing But Studying Sewage May Help Monitor COVID-19 Situation As Many US States Reopen

As many states in the U.S. plan to reopen after relaxation in lockdown restrictions, scientists hope that the monitoring systems in place will help identify the signs of re-emergence of COVID-19 as people resume their normal routines.

However, these monitoring systems may not necessarily including coronavirus testing in the U.S. and contact tracing. All that is required to identify coronavirus re-emergence in human waste.

It has been reported that over the last few months, scientists and researchers have collaborated with companies to collect human sewage at major treatment plants and take a sample for coronavirus testing.

The results from the testing will be reported to the state health officials, which will further help them monitor the situation and see if coronavirus incidence in a community is increasing of decreasing.

University of Arizona’s Water and Energy Sustainable Technology Center is one such group that is studying coronavirus re-emergence in the U.S. and tracking it with the help of sewage monitoring.

Even though technology cannot help identify the exact total number of coronavirus cases, it is still a helpful resource. The researchers say that can estimate the potential number of coronavirus cases among the community by taking into account the volume of wastewater, the number of people in the community from which sewage is being collected and the amount of genetic material detected in the wastewater.

However, the research team still has to further understand and be sure about the volume of genetic material that is released in the stool when a person is potentially infected by COVID-19.

Coronavirus, as it infects a person, is known to “leave a trail of castoff genetic evidence.” This forms a part of the wastewater as soon as it is flushed from the toilets.

The same technology has been used before as well to track specific components in wastewater that comes from the toilets across different communities. Biobot Analytics is one such prominent company that Biobot Analytics, which monitors wastewater data from over 400 communities across 42 states.

Detroit Water and Sewerage Department, Michigan State University and the Great Lakes Water Authority have also teamed up to provide a new approach to coronavirus tracking in Detroit and Michigan.

“Our approach has the potential to provide warnings earlier than traditional systems focused on clinical diagnostics – rapid or not – which are inherently limited to an after analysis of an outbreak,” said Dr. Irene Xagoraraki of Michigan State Univesity. “Our approach goes above and beyond simple surveillance of wastewater.”