Tracking the evolution of the occurrence of coronavirus (COVID-19) in sewer systems

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic is hitting all spheres of activity in Canada hard and across the world. Although it is beginning to fade thanks to the actions of governments favoring the confinement and social distancing, other waves of the pandemic could occur, in particular with the resumption of normal activities. Recently, studies have demonstrated the detection of coronavirus in waters worn. Domestic wastewater is somewhat a reflection of the health of the population served by the networks of sewers. Quantitative monitoring of COVID-19 indicators in sanitary sewers could thus serve as a tool surveillance for early detection and monitoring of the evolution of the coronavirus. The data generated would serve as a decision-making aid to mitigate the spread of the virus in the population. The general objective of this project is to relate the quantity of coronavirus detected in the waters worn with the number of cases diagnosed. The specific objectives are as follows: 1) Sampling COVID-19 in domestic wastewater. 2) Concentrate the samples for analysis by RT-qPCR 3) Compare the results of COVID-19 with other indicators of the number of cases. Wastewater from sewer systems for which the population served and the occurrence of coronaviruses are known will be sampled at time intervals. The reverse transcription method followed polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) optimized for a wastewater matrix will allow detect and quantify the genetic material of the virus transported in wastewater. The results will then be linked to confirmed clinical cases.