Cape Town - The South African Medical Research Council(SAMRC) has reported a sharp increase in the concentrations of SARS-Cov-2-RNA in several wastewater treatment plants in the City and several towns in the Western Cape.
SAMRC president, Professor Glenda Gray, said the spike coincided with the increase of Covid-19 positive cases, reported by National Institute For Communicable Diseases (NICD).
The most recent data indicated that reinfections remained consistent with the level expected based on prior experience with the Omicron variant, according to the NICD.
“Over the past week the SAMRC Wastewater Surveillance team has measured concentrations of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in Cape Town and parts of the Western Cape (De Doorns, Rawsonville and Worcester), that have not been observed for many months.
“The increase in SARS-CoV-2 RNA concentrations in our wastewater programme coincides with an increase in the proportion of positive Covid-19 tests recently reported by the National Institute for Communicable Diseases,” said Gray.
Western Cape Department of Health spokesperson Maret Lesch said they had also picked up an increase in diagnosed Covid-19 cases since mid-September.
“We note the report by the SAMRC and can confirm that last week the SARS-CoV-2 levels in wastewater were above the threshold for concern at 22/24 treatment plants in the Cape Town Metro and all 4 treatment plants in Breede Valley.
“The MRC can be contacted for updated results for samples taken this week.
“Our department has picked up an increase in diagnosed Covid-19 cases since mid-September, with daily cases increasing from the lowest value since the pandemic started in early September of about 20-25 cases per day to 40-50 cases per day in the last week.
“While this is a large relative increase in case numbers, the absolute number of cases remains at some of the lowest levels seen during the pandemic, although this is partly due to substantially reduced testing compared to earlier periods,“ she said.
The department has urged the public to keep observing safety and protective precautions.
“It is important to note that Covid-19 has not gone away but we have to learn to live with it by continuing observing safety and protective precautions.
Omicron remains the dominant circulating variant. Vaccine coverage continues and booster doses are given to those who are due for it, especially for high-risk individuals,” Lesch said.
A member of the SAMRC Wastewater Surveillance team, Professor Angela Mathee, said at this stage similar increases in SARS-CoV-2 RNA concentrations in wastewater have not been observed in the remaining five provinces of Gauteng, Northern KZN, Limpopo, Eastern Cape and the Free State.
“We will be paying close attention to next week’s results to ascertain further changes, should they occur,” said Mathee.
Cape Times