The public company Edar Bens SA, which purifies urban wastewater from A Coruña, Arteixo, Cambre, Culleredo and Oleiros, is going to launch a research project to find out the degree of incidence in the population of the Covid-19 by analyzing the viral load present in the wastewater and sludge from the Bens treatment plant, according to reports.
In a statement, he explains that this project “will allow measure the concentration of the virus in stool and urine of the population of A Coruña and its surroundings “.
“The data we obtain can be valid to know how many citizens are infected, even if they have not been tested or have passed the Covid-19 without symptoms,” he says Carlos Lamora, CEO of Edar Bens SA. “Furthermore, if we keep taking samples over time we can be alert to possible outbreaks of the virus in the future,” he adds.
The person in charge of the project will be the doctor Margarita Poza Dominguez, associate professor at the Universidade da Coruña (UDC) and researcher at the Microbiology Group of the Institute of Biomedical Research of A Coruña (INIBIC).
In the opinion of Dr. Poza, the study “will not only allow us to monitor the status of the epidemic in our region, but will also serve to carry out studies on multi-resistant and metagenomic organisms.”
Samples
The study will be carried out over six months in which Edar Bens SA staff will take samples of wastewater and sludge in the municipalities it serves. The samples will be taken in different zones or areas taking into account parameters such as population density or its profile, such as young populations versus aging populations.
The Bens facilities also receive wastewater from four hospitals in the Coruña health area that currently host people infected with Covid-10: the A Coruña CHUAC University Hospital Complex, the Modelo Hospital, the Quirón and the San Rafael Hospital. .
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