Researchers from the University of Barcelona have detected the SARS-CoV-2 virus in wastewater samples dated March 12, 2019. Surprisingly, the sample from March 2019 tested positive for coronavirus, indicating the deadly bug may have reached Europe much earlier than initially thought. Writing for The Conversation, Dr Claire Crossan, a Research Fellow in Virology at Glasgow Caledonian University, said: “There are several explanations for this positive result. One is that SARS-CoV-2 is present in the sewage at a very low level. This sometimes happens in labs as positive samples are regularly being handled, and it can be difficult to prevent very small traces of positive sample contaminating others.

Source: Daily Mirror June 29, 2020 10:19 UTC