Scientists from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), working in association with the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag), have developed a method for detecting COVID-19 in wastewater samples, EPFL said in a press release on Thursday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 30th April, 2020) Scientists from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL), working in association with the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag), have developed a method for detecting COVID-19 in wastewater samples, EPFL said in a press release on Thursday.
According to the press release, the method has been tested successfully on samples collected during the first phase of the pandemic, paving the way for an early-stage warning system.
"Our study looks at how we can detect the virus in wastewater and measure its concentration before people start developing clinical symptoms - and to determine how much time before," head of EPFL's Environmental Chemistry Laboratory, Tamar Kohn said as quoted in the press release.
The scientists found out that the novel coronavirus can be detected and measured in wastewater in several weeks. They analyzed waterwaste samples from Lausanne, Zurich and Lugano, including in late February when the first cases were recorded in Switzerland. COVID-19 traces were found in all collected samples.
"We were pleasantly surprised to find a signal in wastewater from Lugano - where only one case had been identified at that point - and from Zurich, where only six had been identified," Kohn said.
The scientists also collected samples from nine wastewater treatment plants in Ticino, two in Zurich and one in Lausanne, corresponding to a total of around 800,000 city residents. The Primary goal of the research is to develop an early infection warning system.
"With samples from 20 large treatment plants distributed across Switzerland, we could monitor wastewater from around 2.5 million people ... If the samples are analyzed rapidly, we could probably detect a resurgence of infections earlier than with diagnostic tests - about a week earlier - especially during the period when the lockdown is being lifted," Christoph Ort from Eawag's Urban Water Management Department said.
According to EFPL, researchers still need to further improve their method, because it does not allow to know what percentage of the wastewater's viral load is captured after its filtration and centrifugation.
Switzerland has so far confirmed over 29,400 COVID-19 cases and about 1,400 fatalities.
