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A review is needed of wastewater testing to work out its effectiveness in picking up Covid-19 outbreaks, epidemiologist professor Michael Baker says. Wastewater testing at ESR (file photo). Source: 1 NEWS
The weak positive results from Wellington sampling, announced over the weekend, showed it was good at detecting virus fragments, but its role in discovering active outbreaks early is still unclear, he told RNZ s Morning Report.
ESR reported on Friday there had been a weak positive test result from a sample taken in Wellington. A follow-up sample on Saturday returned a second weak positive result.
The two weak positive results are most likely due to recently recovered cases continuing to shed the virus, the Ministry of Health said.
Covid 19 coronavirus: Michael Baker - review of wastewater testing needed
16 May, 2021 11:06 PM
3 minutes to read
Otago University epidemiologist Michael Baker. Photo / Supplied
RNZ
A review is needed of wastewater testing to work out its effectiveness in picking up Covid-19 outbreaks, Otago University epidemiologist Michael Baker says.
The weak positive results from Wellington sampling, announced over the weekend, showed it was good at detecting virus fragments, but its role in discovering active outbreaks early is still unclear, Baker told Morning Report.
ESR reported on Friday there had been a weak positive test result from a sample taken in Wellington. A follow-up sample on Saturday returned a second weak positive result.
CHECKPOINT/RNZ
A Covid-19 wastewater testing pilot s being rolled out around the country as a safety net for catching the virus in the community. How is wastewater sampled? Every day, about 400 million litres of wastewater are collected and treated in Auckland, across 7999 kilometres of wastewater pipes, 518 wastewater stations, 18 treatment plants and 167,264 maintenance holes. Wastewater testing is not new – ESR routinely tests wastewater for viruses and illicit drugs, such as MDMA and cocaine. There are two ways to take wastewater samples, says Dr Joanne Hewitt, head of ESR s environmental virology laboratory: automatic composite samples and grab samples. Automatic composite sampling – where a pump automatically collects a small volume of wastewater every 15 minutes over 24 hours – is the preferred method.