The city’s civic body, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has reportedly undertaken the decision to collect 100 sewage water samples for RT-PCR testing to comprehend COVID-19 variants in the vicinity.
Experts have been quoted in accounts elaborating on how RNA [ribonucleic acid] of SARS-CoV-2 and other coronaviruses can be detected in human excreta.
In the coming week, the civic authority is going to be testing sewage samples from Mumbai’s outfalls and conducting RT-PCR tests to study the prevalence of coronavirus variants. Those that test positive for COVID-19 will then be sent for genome sequencing at the BMC run Kasturba Hospital.
According to narratives, officials from the BMC have elaborated on how wastewater surveillance will assist them in planning future policies and interventions.
Suresh Kakani, additional municipal commissioner, BMC was quoted in a report while elucidating on how so far, the BMC was genome sequencing samples from the community, hospitals and of those who have succumbed owing to the novel virus.
He added that now the authority is looking to inspect the samples from the sewage water. Since August last year, the civic authority has undertaken an aggregate of 10 surveys for genome sequencing.
The tenth survey that was recently announced highlighted that the 237 samples collected by the BMC’s health department were positive for the highly transmissible Omicron variant.
Also Read: Mumbai Sitting On A Ticking COVID-19 Clock That Will Ring Once Polls End?
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