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The secret to early detection of COVID-19 surges could lie in what we flush down the toilet, according to Irish public health officials.
Members of the National Public Health Emergencies Team (NPHET) have recommended that Irish health agencies should monitor our toilet waste for spikes of coronavirus.
Minutes from an NPHET meeting on November 12 show that health officials agreed that testing “genetic material in sewage samples” will help Ireland in its fight against the virus.
Implementing a “robust” system to analyze toilet waste will act as an “early warning system” to monitor coronavirus levels in the community, NPHET chiefs said.
The Health Protection Surveillance System and the National Virus Research Laboratory will work to implement a wastewater testing method to detect the presence of SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus strain that causes that disease with which we are all so familiar.
The news comes as medical experts continue to emphasize the importance of rigorous surveillance when virus levels are low in the community.
At the meeting, NPHET members also discussed the agency’s role as a public health advisor, deciding that its purpose is to make recommendations and not deviate from the “best scientific and medical evidence.”
In recent months, NPHET has had several high-profile divergences from government policy when it comes to leading the country through COVID-19, even earning a public reprimand from Leo Varadkar when he recommended moving to Level Five in October.
But the minutes of the November meeting highlight the belief of NPHET members that “any deviation, including making exceptions for the Christmas period, risks losing credibility.”
The self-reflection came weeks before the government moved to reopen the country for December, in a lockdown that went well beyond NPHET’s recommendations.
In a letter to the health minister, the body also warned of a third wave that could hit harder and faster than the second amid a lethal cocktail of lowered restrictions and “unavoidable” mixes during Christmas.
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