About 6 lakh of Hyderabad’s population could have been infected with the COVID-19 virus including symptomatic, asymptomatic, and also recently recovered individuals in a time window of about 35 days. SARS-CoV-2 in sewage samples is non-infectious, thus making sewage samples suitable for epidemiological studies, said CCMB Director Rakesh Mishra on Wednesday. AdvertisingAdvertisingSewage samples from major STPs were processed for detecting the presence of SARS-CoV-2 viral RNA. While viral RNA is detectable in the inlet samples, the outlet (after treatment) samples of STP were largely clean (free from viral RNA) in this regard, indicating efficient treatment practices at STP. The study covers about 80% of STPs revealed that there are around 2 lakh people shedding viral materials.

Source: The Hindu August 19, 2020 11:21 UTC