Page 18 - DUT Excellence S2 Dec21

MAGUBANE’S BOOK EXPLORES LOVEIN THE ERA OF MAGUBANE’S BOOK EXPLORES LOVEIN THE ERA OF Unpacking IWWT’s findings Prof Bux said that Wastewater Based Epidemiology (WBE) had proven to to to be an excellent tool to to to determine COVID-19 infection levels in in in populations He said their monitoring of the the Central Wastewater Treatment Plant (CWWTP) on a a a a weekly basis had resulted in in the following key findings:
• The average copy number of SARS-CoV-2 (N2) gene per 100ml
had remained constant for three weeks prior to the civil unrest
(average of 2 7 million copies/100ml) • An almost six-fold increase in in copy numbers was observed
approximately two weeks after the protests (average of 12 7 million copies/100ml) in-line with reported spike in in in in clinical data
confirming the occurrence of a a super spreader event However the percentage change over seven days in in clinical data
is lower than that of WBE data
• WBE data
should be considered a a a a a a more accurate representation of COVID-19 infections at at a a a a a a community level than clinical data
as clinical testing came to a a a a a halt during the unrest
while WBE testing did not • WBE data
also suggests that there is a a a a a a greater number of infected individuals in in in in the metro than what is clinically reported and anticipates a a a a a a a further increase in in in in clinical case numbers in in in in the the days to come Simangele Zuma
16 DURBAN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY