NATIONAL NEWS - The National Institute for Communicable Diseases (NICD) is beginning to see increases in SARS-CoV-2 in certain wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) which may indicate an impending wave.
This is according to the NICD's latest weekly report on Wastewater-based Epidemiology for SARS-CoV-2.
The NICD says these areas will need to be closely monitored for clinical cases.
Wastewater treatment plants showing increases are situated in Gauteng: City of Tshwane (Daspoort WWTP), City of Johannesburg (Goudkoppies WWTP), and Ekurhuleni (Hartebeesfontein WWTP); in Free State: Bloemfontein (Sterkwater WWTP); and in KwaZulu-Natal: eThekwini (Central WWTP).
This report is based on data collected from June 2021 up to 23 August 2022 (week 34 of 2022), and can be found on the NICD website under Surveillance Reports on the COVID-19 page.
The public can view SARS-CoV-2 levels from wastewater treatment facilities across all the provinces on the NICD dashboard. To view the dashboard, visit https://wastewater.nicd.ac.za/.
SARS-CoV-2 genomics in wastewater
According to the NICD, SARS-CoV-2 genomic sequencing data that is available up to week 30, showed the presence of Omicron variant in all samples across South Africa with evidence of Omicron sub-variants BA.4 and BA.5, predominantly circulating in Johannesburg, Ekurhuleni and City of Tshwane.
'We bring you the latest Garden Route, Hessequa, Karoo news'
