A pilot project has found Covid-19 RNA signals in wastewater plants in Gauteng hotspots. Now it needs to be scaled up nationally as it could be a vital and cost-effective early warning system, and could help track the waves of the transmission as the pandemic unfolds.
With the growing escalation in Covid-19 infections in the country and the challenges associated with individual testing, the importance of introducing a nationwide wastewater surveillance programme becomes more immediate and relevant to complement national interventions. This could offer a cost-effective method of understanding the pandemic trends, provide an early warning system, identify hotspots and track the waves of the transmission as the pandemic unfolds.
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