Zentek Ltd

Purpose

SARS-CoV-2, the causative agent of COVID-19, can be detected in wastewater either by detection of the virus, its breakdown products, antibodies produced in response to the virus or other compounds produced in response to the virus. Wastewater based detection of SARS-CoV-2 provides early warning to the emergence of outbreaks and can monitor community infection trends. Wastewater signals can inform more efficient public health action and help mitigate the social and economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. For wastewater monitoring of SARS-CoV-2 to be successful in providing actionable public health intelligence these signals must be detected quickly, and directly at the point of sampling. Ideally a portable detection device would be compatible with multiple types of wastewater including raw wastewater, primary influent, mixed liquor, and secondary effluent (before disinfection). Current wastewater surveillance is hampered by delays along the axis of sample collection, sample transportation, laboratory processing and data reporting. Sampling upstream in the sewershed requires laborious and costly sampling to be useful. There is a need for a portable end-to-end SARS-CoV-2 wastewater detection device that can expedite this process. Such a device will provide rapid public health intelligence at both the city and neighbourhood scale.