Wastewater-based surveillance has been developing rapidly as an important tool in efforts to combat COVID-19. Since the virus is shed in feces, monitoring virus levels in wastewater can be an advance indicator of an outbreak. This is because infected persons start shedding the virus within 24 hours of being infected, while symptoms might not appear until as much as five days later.
The surveillance data will enable researchers to estimate community infection rates and determine upward or downward trends that can inform real-time management decisions. As well, the team has developed a laboratory test that can detect COVID-19 variants without needing to fully sequence the virus….
