New UK Project Use Sewage To Track Down Coronavirus Outbreaks
UK USE SEWAGE TO TRACK CORONAVIRUS – The United Kingdom was one of the first countries to get hit by the pandemic.
Since then, scientists and health officials have been looking for ways to successfully track down the virus. Currently, a new project has been found effective as an early warning system for local COVID-19 outbreaks.
However, the project uses an unlikely system – sewage. The project originally began in June and has now proved that traces of the genetic compound of COVID-19 can be detected in waste water. As such, it could indicate if a local community would experience an outbreak.
According to the UK government, the project would aid health officials to identify large outbreaks of the new respiratory disease. Furthermore, the new system helps identify outbreaks in areas where carriers are primarily asymptomatic.
Additionally, Environment Secretary George Eustice said:
This is a significant step forward in giving us a clearer idea of infection rates both nationally and locally, particularly in areas where there may be large numbers of people who aren’t showing any symptoms and therefore aren’t seeking tests
Currently, the sewage-testing project has been utilized successfully along Southwest England. Moreover, it’s now expanded to 90 wastewater sites which includes 22% of England. Along with this, the government noted that they would expand this further in the future.
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