Singapore now has almost 42,000 COVID-19 cases - a hefty number for a nation with 5.7 million people but this is down to substantial testing especially in migrant workers dormitories. The government of Singapore also introduced a new way of surveillance is by testing human waste and wastewater for signs of the pathogen. Tracing the spread of COVID-19 through wastewater and sewage is not a new strategy. Previously, researchers in China, Italy, France, Netherlands, and Australia have all reported tracing the highly contagious virus in wastewater in toilets and sewers. Their first goal was to focus on assessing the situation and reducing the transmission of the novel coronavirus at dormitories of migrant workers.

Source: dna June 22, 2020 06:22 UTC