Can I get coronavirus (COVID-19) from wastewater?
No. Current evidence shows that the virus cannot be spread through wastewater.
Does wastewater testing replace other types of testing for COVID-19?
No. Wastewater testing complements – but cannot replace – other kinds of COVID-19 testing, including nose and throat swabs. This is because wastewater testing does not tell us if an individual has COVID-19, only that it may be present in the broader community.
How can COVID-19 be detected in wastewater?
People who have had COVID-19 normally shed the virus when they do day-to-day activities like blowing their noses and going to the toilet. People can continue to shed the virus for several weeks after they recover from COVID-19, even when they are no longer infectious. The virus enters wastewater through drains and toilets, and travels through the sewerage network as viral fragments.
What are the wastewater samples used for?
The wastewater samples are tested for viral fragments of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Wastewater samples can be used to:
- detect the presence or absence of the virus in a sewer catchment area
- estimate the viral load in community using quantitative analysis and
- identify the dominant variant of the virus in the community through genomic sequencing
The presence of virus fragments may provide an early warning of undiagnosed COVID-19 in the community if there are no known cases.
Quantitative analysis can be used to look at trends over time using an estimate of the viral load in sewer catchment areas.
Wastewater results for SARS-CoV-2 can be used to complement other sources of data that are used in the public health management of COVID-19.