Coronavirus: sewage indicates high level of virus circulation

Studying wastewater provides valuable information on the circulation of a virus. Whether infected people are symptomatic or not, they shed virus when they go to the bathroom. Since the arrival of the virus in France, researchers have focused on tracking traces of the new coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 in the sewers of several dozen wastewater treatment plants in France.

Predict virus circulation

The latest data from the OBEPINE observatory reveal that the presence of the virus continues to rise. The presence of the coronavirus in wastewater is today equivalent to the beginning of March. This suggests that the measures taken to limit its spread are not effective. “Today, we see that the measures that have been repeated, which are more coercive than at the beginning of August, have not yet had a major effect and do not in any case make it possible to reduce the circulation of the virus as that we see through the sewage”, says Professor Vincent Marechal, virologist and co-creator of the epidemiological observatory in wastewater, at the microphone ofEuropean 1.

These data confirm that the virus is actively circulating while more than half of the departments have moved into the red zone. Without comparing with the situation as it was last spring, the “traffic curves that do not flatten are a warning”, points out the researcher.

In addition to an inventory, the analysis of wastewater makes it possible to anticipate the circulation of the virus. “In the stool, we find the presence of Covid-19 much earlier than the symptoms that can be observed in the population. This makes it possible to react in a very proactive way and to warn the ARS or the health authorities”, specifies David Le Berre, head of the virology, radiology and molecular biology sector, at France 2.