Wastewater surveillance and an automated robot: effectively tracking SARS-CoV-2 transmission in the post-epidemic era

Abstract

Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) has exhibited great utility in the early and rapid identification of SARS-CoV-2. However, the efficacy of wastewater surveillance under China's previous strict epidemic prevention policy remains to be described. We collected the WBE data of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) in the Third People's Hospital of Shenzhen and several communities to determine the significant effectiveness of routine wastewater surveillance in monitoring the local spread of SARS-CoV-2 under tight containment of the epidemic. The results of one-month continuous wastewater surveillance showed that positive signals for SARS-CoV-2 RNA were detected in the wastewater samples, and a significant positive correlation was observed between the virus concentration and the number of daily cases. In addition, the community's domestic wastewater surveillance results were confirmed even three days before or simultaneously with the infected patient being confirmed. Meanwhile, an automated sewage virus detection robot, Shennong NO.1 robot, was developed, showing a high degree of agreement with experimental data, offering the possibility of large-scale multi-point surveillance. Overall, our results illustrated the clear indicative role of wastewater surveillance in combating COVID-19 and provided a practical basis for rapidly expanding the feasibility and value of routine wastewater surveillance for future emerging infectious diseases.

Designing, Modeling, and Fabrication of a Novel Solar-Concentrating Spittoon against COVID-19 for Antibacterial Sustainable Atmosphere

“…The global spread of the coronavirus disease caused by new SARS-CoV-2 variants resulting in the severe acute respiratory syndrome remains a major health concern, leading to increased patient mortality and its identification is required as soon as the samples are identified as "positive" [16,17]. The use of graphene oxide demonstrated efficient adsorption of 18F-FDG, providing a promising alternative method for decontamination of surfaces contaminated with radioactive material [18].…”