This report was prepared by the Research Team – J. Mans, M.B. Taylor, B. Genthe, L. Coetzee and G. Pocock on WRC Project number: C2020-2021-00353.
SARS-CoV-2 RNA was detected in 98% of wastewater samples collected. This confirms and demonstrates the power of wastewater surveillance of the SARS-CoV-2 virus responsible for COVID-19, and has demonstrated the proof of concept.
This study illustrates that wastewater-based epidemiology can be applied as a complementary surveillance tool for management of the COVID-19 pandemic.