Alternative mechanism to warn the presence of covid-19

By: Vasco Lagarto
Created: 21 April 2020 - 12:04
Updated: 21 April 2020 - 12:04

Portugal has started a research project to detect COVID-19 in residual waters to be able to alert in case of contamination – for this crisis and for future warnings about new pandemics. The COVIDETECT project has a first phase of development and validation of the applied method of about one month, followed by the monitoring of five Wastewater Treatment Plants (WWTP) during the following six months. At the same time, "the eco-epidemiological modeling of viral loads and sequencing of the genomes of SARS-CoV-2 present in wastewater" are performed.

Because it is impossible to test the entire population, the monitoring of the Wastewater Treatment Plants can be an "important tool" for early warning of the presence of COVID-19 and its dissemination in a given community. The information collected is then communicated to the authorities and contributes "to improving the country's preparedness and response capacity in the face of possible further outbreaks". (quotes are direct translations from Portuguese- https://www.msn.com/pt-pt/saude/coronavirus/projeto-para-detetar-vírus-nas-águas-residuais-arranca-esta-segunda-feira/ar-BB12VBAv?ocid=spartanntp )