https://www.engineeringnews.co.za
Africa|Business|Power|PROJECT|Sanitation|Screening|Systems|Technology|Testing|Water
Africa|Business|Power|PROJECT|Sanitation|Screening|Systems|Technology|Testing|Water
africa|business|power|project|sanitation|screening|systems|technology|testing|water

Sewage testing gives advanced warning of the third Covid-19 wave in South Africa

24th May 2021

By: Natasha Odendaal

Creamer Media Senior Deputy Editor

     

Font size: - +

Data from the Water Research Commission’s (WRC’s) wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) initiative has confirmed South Africa’s third Covid-19 wave three weeks in advance, demonstrating the early warning capabilities – and the proof of concept – of wastewater-based surveillance.

The WRC led the South African initiative towards development of a robust severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS COV-2) WBE platform and launched the national initiative in partnership with the South African Local Government Association in May last year.

By November, the WRC had launched the three- to 12-month pilot phase of the national scale-up, which will target urban metropolitan areas, including several wastewater plants throughout Johannesburg, Tshwane, Ekurhuleni, eThekwini, the City of Cape Town, Gqeberha and Buffalo City.

At the time, the WRC said that the tracing of the Covid-19 spread in sewered wastewater treatment systems and non-sewered sanitation systems provides information that could track and trace and signal hotspots of community transmissions in developing regions that may not be able to afford or implement mass screening programmes to uncover new infections and provide early warning of resurgence of the outbreak.

Wastewater-based epidemiology involves monitoring wastewater for the presence of the non-infectious remnants of the virus that are shed by infected people.

Through the use of simulation models, the concentration of the coronavirus ribonucleic acid (RNA) in the wastewater, together with other parameters, can be used to estimate the Covid-19 infection loads in communities.

The WRC-initiated studies have shown that SARS-CoV-2 RNA was detected in 98% of wastewater samples collected.

“The project has confirmed and demonstrated the power of wastewater surveillance of the SARS-CoV-2 virus responsible for Covid-19 and has demonstrated the proof of concept,” the WRC said in a statement.

The Durban University of Technology (DUT) WBE COV 19 programme, which has been monitoring treatment plants in the Durban area since July 2020, supported by the WRC, in partnership with Ethekweni municipality and Umgeni Water, has made an important breakthrough.

The continued monitoring at the Central Wastewater Treatment Plant, which serves nearly 61 suburbs and the central business district, has resulted in significant findings and confirmed some of the early positions of the WBE initiative.

Wastewater surveillance revealed an increase in SARS-CoV-2 copy numbers as early as March 30, three weeks before reported clinical cases.

According to the WRC, the number of active clinical cases in KwaZulu-Natal and the eThekwini municipality has been increasing steadily since April 20, and there has been a significant increase in SARS-CoV-2 copy numbers in wastewater observed over the four-week period from April 28 to May 18, indicating that a spike in clinical cases in the coming weeks is imminent.

Previous and current data indicate that the easing of lockdown restrictions from level three to level one contributed significantly to the increased viral loads in wastewater, the WRC noted, citing the DUT case study.

“The number of active clinical cases in April/May 2021 is significantly lower when compared with February 2021 despite the viral loads in wastewater being almost the same, suggesting that there may be a greater number of infected individuals within the population than what is being reported currently for eThekwini.”

The findings from the interpretation of the data and information confirms that WBE surveillance is a cost-effective means of providing an early warning of the spread and increase in infections.

“In the above case, the signals in the wastewater of the increases already has a three week lead before the clinical cases were starting to increase and be reported,” the research firm pointed out.

The findings also show that the increase in the viral loads or increase in the amplification of the RNA signal offers a very effective signal on the increases in infections, as it is able to capture the asymptomatic cases as well, which form a pathway for the spread of infections.

“This progress has demonstrated the importance and effectiveness of WBE surveillance and why it needs to be escalated at a national level in the fight of this pandemic, but also in the future be used to determine the impact of the large rollout of vaccinations in the country."

Edited by Creamer Media Reporter

Comments

Showroom

Aqs image
AQS Liquid Transfer

AxFlow AQS Liquid Transfer (Pty) Ltd is an Importer and Distributor of Pumps in Southern Africa

VISIT SHOWROOM 
Rio-Carb
Rio-Carb

Our Easy Access Chute concept was developed to reduce the risks related to liner maintenance. Currently, replacing wear liners require that...

VISIT SHOWROOM 

Latest Multimedia

sponsored by

Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):

Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format

Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):

All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.

Already a subscriber?

Forgotten your password?

MAGAZINE & ONLINE

SUBSCRIBE

RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA

SUBSCRIBE

CORPORATE PACKAGES

CLICK FOR A QUOTATION







sq:0.078 0.167s - 138pq - 2rq
Subscribe Now