Scientific tests |
Corona virus in Oktoberfest wastewater–
Munich – Munich scientists constantly scan Oktoberfest wastewater for components of the corona virus. You can find it, but only in small quantities.
There is a similar concentration of the virus in Wiesn’s wastewater as in the rest of the city, says Andreas Wieser of the Department of Infection and Tropical Medicine at the LMU Klinikum in Munich. For the duration of the festival, samples are taken daily from the wastewater before and after the Wiesn.
“We can already see that something is happening there,” says the head of the Sars-CoV-2 laboratory. However, it is still not possible to tell from the wastewater whether a Wiesn wave is coming. “We can’t make any statements about it yet. We have a five-day incubation period. There are no big leaps to be expected.”
In addition, the wastewater of the Wiesn is significantly diluted compared to other municipal wastewater due to the large amount of rinse water. For the most part, wastewater also contains urine and not feces.
The fact that it was possible to detect the virus specifically in the heavily diluted wastewater of the folk festival is a good sign for the method itself. Such a test at a large folk festival like the Wiesn has not yet taken place.
In addition to the viral load, the scientists also performed sequencing to observe the genetic makeup of the viruses and also to quickly discover possible new variants.
Bavarian Health Minister Klaus Holetschek (CSU) said the development of the crown has been closely monitored, including with regards to Oktoberfest. Wastewater monitoring is another approach to gain knowledge about it. With Oktoberfest, an increase in the number of infections in Munich is expected. Holetschek: “The situation in hospitals is and will remain decisive.” There are already staff shortages there, but these can still be largely compensated for.
According to previous experience, it takes one and a half to two weeks after the start of a folk festival for any waves of infection to manifest in the incidence. The Wiesn has been in operation for about a week.
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