Toilet waste on flights from China may be tested for new Covid variants amid pressure to impose more restrictions. I it was said.
An official involved in the discussion about the possible spread of the virus said it was an option in any effort to prevent a new variant of Covid-19 from taking hold in the UK.
The tests will include sending waste to UK laboratories to test for the existence of Covid-19 and especially new variants that could potentially elude existing vaccines.
On Thursday I announced that the UK will stop following countries including the US, Italy, Japan and Taiwan to screen all passengers arriving from China amid a split in the cabinet and a looming backlash against Conservative MPs restoring Covid restrictions.
Instead, anyone taking a PCR test, such as people in hospitals or nursing homes, will be asked if they have traveled to China recently.
Those who have tested positive for Covid and have visited China will quickly track their samples for sequencing at UK labs to look for new variants that may have been imported from China.
An extra round of testing wastewater from planes arriving from the world’s most populous country will add a layer of Covid safety to protecting the UK from a new option.
Government scientists are much less concerned that existing variants of Covid will be brought into the UK due to the already high number of infections in the UK.
So said a member of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergency Situations (Sage). I that sewage testing on flights from China has been discussed by government health authorities, but no final decision has been made on its implementation.
A source who attended government meetings on flights from China this week said: “Testing aircraft wastewater has been successful in identifying cases of Covid and may reveal new options that could be more worrisome than the current ones that protect us with vaccines. vs.
“Wastewater testing is also a fairly simple process. They do not cause inconvenience to passengers, and if a new variant is discovered, we have passenger lists of the affected aircraft to facilitate the tracking process.”
Professor Graham Medley, who sits on Sage and chairs the pandemic modeling subcommittee, said testing wastewater from aircraft is “potentially more effective than testing people.”
A UKHSA source told me that there are currently no plans to test aircraft wastewater, but all travel surveillance measures are being reviewed.
Professor Jeremy Brown, a member of the Government’s Joint Committee on Vaccinations and Immunizations, added: “Regarding flights from China, I don’t think there’s much benefit at this point in implementing Covid-related restrictions as we are doing. there are many cases in the UK anyway, so additional cases from Chinese travelers are unlikely to matter.
“However, if a new variant appears in China that causes a more serious illness, there may be a reason to impose travel restrictions. Although, I must say, experience shows that they do not work well, maybe they slow down the spread, but do not prevent it. ”
However, the insider added that one of the downsides of sewage testing would be sampling, as not everyone on the flight would use the toilets, but that would be better than no data at all.
Sample processing will not be fast. Detection of Covid in wastewater would require a PCR test, which would take at least 90 minutes to produce a result, by which time most passengers would have passed through the arrivals hall and on their way to their destination.
Any move by the UK to introduce sewage testing will come with similar precautions being considered in countries such as the US and Malaysia.
As Covid-19 cases rise in China, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention believes such a policy would offer a better solution to detecting the virus and delaying entry into the country than new travel restrictions, mandatory negative Covid tests. for travelers from China.
In Malaysia, Health Minister Zaliha Mustafa said on Friday that authorities will test sewage samples from all flights arriving from China for Covid-19 in preparation for a possible spike in cases after China attempts to end its zero-Covid strategy and international – to resume flights. . for their citizens.
Since Chinese President Xi Jinping reopened the country earlier this month, tens of millions of citizens have contracted the virus, causing hospitals across the country to overflow.
While testing wastewater from aircraft toilets will be a new strategy for the UK, the government has used testing at wastewater treatment plants as a method of assessing the prevalence of Covid infection since the peak of the pandemic.
In June 2020, a government strategy was launched to test wastewater for Covid, which was implemented by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) and has proven to be effective in providing early warning of Covid outbreaks.
The strategy, known as the SARS-CoV-2 Wastewater Monitoring Program for Health Protection (EMHP), was scaled down at the end of March this year.
At the end of the program, the UKHSA stated: “Waste-based epidemiology is likely to become important both nationally and internationally in the future, and we are exploring additional opportunities for this technology.”
The Department of Health and Human Services was asked to comment on the situation.
Source: I News
I’m Raymond Molina, a professional writer and journalist with over 5 years of experience in the media industry. I currently work for 24 News Reporters, where I write for the health section of their news website. In my role, I am responsible for researching and writing stories on current health trends and issues. My articles are often seen as thought-provoking pieces that provide valuable insight into the state of society’s wellbeing.