Cape wastewater treatment plants show Covid-19 Delta variant is dominant
Data from wastewater testing offers an overview of infections within communities and is a valuable source of data for Covid-19 decision-making
06 July 2021 - 12:53
byStaff Writer
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
The highly infectious Delta variant of Covid-19 has been detected in wastewater at 25 treatment plants in the Western Cape.
SA Medical Research Council (SAMRC) scientists said they made the discovery after obtaining reagents to test for the Delta variant.
"[The team] detected it as the dominant variant in towns in the Breede Valley (Worcester‚ Rawsonville‚ Touws River and De Doorns)‚ Theewaterskloof (Bot River and Villiersdorp) as well as in 19 wastewater treatment plants in the Cape Town metropole‚” said Dr Rabia Johnson‚ deputy director of the SAMRC biomedical research and innovation platform.
“For the past two months‚ SAMRC scientists have been screening for the presence of mutations associated with the Alpha and Beta variants in wastewater ... and found both the Alpha and Beta variants‚ with the Beta variant being predominant.”
Johnson said the SAMRC team did not yet know whether busy roads played a role in Covid-19 transmission‚ but several towns where the Delta variant was found in wastewater were along the N1.
She said data from wastewater testing provided an overview of infections within communities and was a valuable source of information for Covid-19 decision-making.
“We hope to make testing for a range of SARS-CoV-2 variants a standard component of our weekly wastewater surveillance programme‚” she said.
SAMRC president Prof Glenda Gray said tracking variants in wastewater could provide an early warning system for public health authorities.
“The emergence of new and more contagious Covid-19 strains globally and especially in SA has increased the need to keep track of variants and their presence in communities‚” she said.
Support our award-winning journalism. The Premium package (digital only) is R30 for the first month and thereafter you pay R129 p/m now ad-free for all subscribers.
Cape wastewater treatment plants show Covid-19 Delta variant is dominant
Data from wastewater testing offers an overview of infections within communities and is a valuable source of data for Covid-19 decision-making
The highly infectious Delta variant of Covid-19 has been detected in wastewater at 25 treatment plants in the Western Cape.
SA Medical Research Council (SAMRC) scientists said they made the discovery after obtaining reagents to test for the Delta variant.
"[The team] detected it as the dominant variant in towns in the Breede Valley (Worcester‚ Rawsonville‚ Touws River and De Doorns)‚ Theewaterskloof (Bot River and Villiersdorp) as well as in 19 wastewater treatment plants in the Cape Town metropole‚” said Dr Rabia Johnson‚ deputy director of the SAMRC biomedical research and innovation platform.
“For the past two months‚ SAMRC scientists have been screening for the presence of mutations associated with the Alpha and Beta variants in wastewater ... and found both the Alpha and Beta variants‚ with the Beta variant being predominant.”
Johnson said the SAMRC team did not yet know whether busy roads played a role in Covid-19 transmission‚ but several towns where the Delta variant was found in wastewater were along the N1.
She said data from wastewater testing provided an overview of infections within communities and was a valuable source of information for Covid-19 decision-making.
“We hope to make testing for a range of SARS-CoV-2 variants a standard component of our weekly wastewater surveillance programme‚” she said.
SAMRC president Prof Glenda Gray said tracking variants in wastewater could provide an early warning system for public health authorities.
“The emergence of new and more contagious Covid-19 strains globally and especially in SA has increased the need to keep track of variants and their presence in communities‚” she said.
Airports operator warns Delta variant is dashing hopes of travel recovery in Europe
Lagging shots could hit rand and ruble as emerging markets gap opens
Efficacy rate of Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine slips in Israel
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Most Read
Related Articles
SA’s vaccine quagmire, and what needs to be done now
RAZINA MUNSHI: In the vaccine queue, who is the most ‘deserving’?
Vaccine queue jumping for sake of the economy, says official
Published by Arena Holdings and distributed with the Financial Mail on the last Thursday of every month except December and January.