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The viral load of wastewater from the urban complex of Thessaloniki is kept at a “green” level in research carried out by an interdisciplinary team from Aristotle University of Thessaloniki in collaboration with EYATH.
The last three sampling measurements on January 6, 8 and 11, compared with those of December 30, January 1 and 4, after the environmental rationalization process completed today, show that the concentration levels of the SARS-CoV genome -2 to municipal wastewater remained at the same levels.
“By reading our scientific data we see a ray of light in the prospect of alleviating society and the economy. We have been concerned about mobility during holidays, but the results show that citizens complied with the instructions of experts and thus the partial opening of the market -click away, bookstores, hairdressers, etc.- and the family gatherings, did not load the epidemiological picture “, declared to APE-MPE the rector of AUTh and scientifically responsible for the research project Prof. Nikos Papaioannou.
Explain, no, how “Anticipating the next measurements that will certainly show the impact of some agglomeration phenomena on the celebration of Epiphany, it seems that a big bet was won for our city, which was at the center of the pandemic during its second wave. “
“The outlook is good, there are dangers in the conditions”
When asked if the AUTh team’s measurements can be a guide for the gradual lifting of restrictive measures, Papaioannou replied: “We need to make it clear that our research team analyzes and makes measurable scientific data available to the State, derived from analysis” in situ “in real time. We do not apply forecasting computers or any other model, we are talking with real data. Beyond that, the results of each measurement, which we discuss in good cooperation and constant communication with EODY, are clearly important information, when the State takes into account all the parameters to make decisions ”.
In terms of terms who will judge the course of the pandemic in the city in the near future, clarified the rector of AUTh: “What emerges from the latest measurements is that, although the holidays hid a danger, the measures worked. Another fact is that there is still a level of dispersion, which is manageable, since there is a corresponding hospital discharge, it does not allow complacency, given the climatic conditions that favor the transmission of the virus, but also its various mutations. , that we cannot predict how they will affect their transmissibility and if they can bring a third wave of epidemic outbreaks closer. The outlook is good, but in the conditions there are dangers. To put it more schematically, we are not at zero, so we cannot even mentally relax like in October. But you can certainly consider helpful measures that have been tried in the past and have been successful. “
Regarding the monitoring of the de-escalation trend since it began, the professor of Chemistry at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thodoris Karapantsios, noted: “The stability observed in our recent measurements is within the scientifically acceptable uncertainty of the experimental determination of viral load but it is persistent. At this point, to see further decline, the country’s epidemiological outlook may need to be improved, as mobility between counties for work can create new small outbreaks in the city, of people exposed to the virus while traveling. in congested areas. “
The coronavirus evaluation methodology in municipal waste, developed by the AUTh team, streamlines the measurements of the virus genome concentration based on 24 environmental factors, which can alter the measurement results.
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