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A group of researchers found fragments of the genes of SARS-COV-2 virus (novel Coronavirus) in water samples collected from the Sabarmati river in Ahmedabad.
Dead virus traces
The researchers, however, clarified that these were dead virus traces and that there was no need to panic about the possibility of water bodies getting contaminated.
“From our study conducted during four months in 2020, we detected fragments of the genes of SARS-COV2 virus. We had taken total 16 samples spread across four months with one sample collected each week.
“Of these 16 samples, five samples collected at different occasions were found to be positive. But there is no need to fear.
“They were dead virus or the fragments of the gene of the virus,” Manish Kumar Singh, Assistant Professor, Department of Earth Sciences, IIT-Gandhinagar, told BusinessLine . For an early warning of the outbreak in the area, the group of researchers, led by Prof Singh, assessed the water samples collected from two lakes and a river in Ahmedabad treated through the waste-water treatment plant.
The other samples were collected from a river in Guwahati, Assam, without a waste-water treatment plant.
“It is well established that such method of surveillance can help you know 8-12 days in advance the possibility of a spike in infection or the approaching wave of outbreak in the nearby community,” said Singh. The source of the virus in the waste water is excretion from the community.
“It takes the infected excreta about 6-7 hours to reach a waste-water treatment plant. Then the treatment process takes another 6-12 hours.
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