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Surveillance and Testing of SARS-CoV-2
During the COVID-19 pandemic, testing for and surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 viral outbreak has been both important and controversial.
Surveillance
Waterwater Sampling
Starting on March 19, 2020, wastewater in the New Haven, Connecticut area was tracked and tested by Yale University researchers.1) Published results of this program showed such wastewater surveillance to predict percentage of positive tests 0 to 2 days ahead, hospital admissions by 1 to 4 days, and magnitude of positive test results 6 to 8 days ahead of reporting date.2)
Omicron Wave
Boston, Massachusetts wastewater samples show substantially higher infection rates than official case counts.3)
1)
September 18, 2020 | Yale School of Engineering & Applied Science | Study: Wastewater Predicts COVID-19 Outbreaks Days Before Diagnostic Testing Results
2)
September 18, 2020 | Peccia et al | Nature Biotechnology | doi.org/10.1038/s41587-020-0684-z
3)
January 11, 2022 | ZeroHedge | [[https://www.zerohedge.com/political/mass-wastewater-data-suggests-covid-19-cases-substantially-higher-reported|Mass. Wastewater Data Suggests Covid-19 Cases Substantially Higher Than Reported]