Spatial and Temporal Trends of SARS-CoV-2 RNA from Wastewater Treatment Plants over 6 Weeks in Cape Town, South Africa

Renée Street¹, Angela Mathee^{1

2}, Noluxabiso Mangwana^{3

4}, Stephanie Dias³, Jyoti Rajan Sharma³, Pritika Ramharack³, Johan Louw^{3

5}, Tarylee Reddy⁶, Ludwig Brocker⁴, Swastika Surujlal-Naicker⁷, Natacha Berkowitz⁸, Mokaba Shirley Malema¹, Sizwe Nkambule¹, Candice Webster¹, Nomfundo Mahlangeni¹, Huub Gelderblom⁹, Mongezi Mdhluli¹⁰, Glenda Gray¹¹, Christo Muller^{3

5

12}, Rabia Johnson^{3

12

13}

Affiliations

¹ Environment & Health Research Unit, South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC), Tygerberg 7505, South Africa.
² Environmental Health Department, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg 2092, South Africa.
³ Biomedical Research and Innovation Platform (BRIP), South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC), Tygerberg 7505, South Africa.
⁴ Department of Microbiology, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch 7600, South Africa.
⁵ Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, University of Zululand, KwaDlangezwa 3886, South Africa.
⁶ Biostatistics Unit, South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC), Tygerberg 7505, South Africa.
⁷ Scientific Services, Water and Sanitation Department, City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality, Cape Town 8000, South Africa.
⁸ Community Services and Health, City Health, City of Cape Town, Hertzog Boulevard, Cape Town 8001, South Africa.
⁹ COVID-19 Prevention Network (COVPN), Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA 98109, USA.
¹⁰ Office of the President, South African Medical Research Council, Tygerberg 7050, South Africa.
¹¹ Chief Research Operations Office, South African Medical Research Council, Tygerberg 7050, South Africa.
¹² Centre for Cardio-Metabolic Research in Africa, Division of Medical Physiology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch 7600, South Africa.
¹³ Discipline of Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Health Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville Campus, Durban 4001, South Africa.

PMID: 34831841
PMCID: PMC8618134
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph182212085

Spatial and Temporal Trends of SARS-CoV-2 RNA from Wastewater Treatment Plants over 6 Weeks in Cape Town, South Africa

Renée Street et al. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021.

. 2021 Nov 17;18(22):12085.

doi: 10.3390/ijerph182212085.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Environment & Health Research Unit, South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC), Tygerberg 7505, South Africa.
² Environmental Health Department, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Johannesburg, Johannesburg 2092, South Africa.
³ Biomedical Research and Innovation Platform (BRIP), South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC), Tygerberg 7505, South Africa.
⁴ Department of Microbiology, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch 7600, South Africa.
⁵ Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology, University of Zululand, KwaDlangezwa 3886, South Africa.
⁶ Biostatistics Unit, South African Medical Research Council (SAMRC), Tygerberg 7505, South Africa.
⁷ Scientific Services, Water and Sanitation Department, City of Cape Town Metropolitan Municipality, Cape Town 8000, South Africa.
⁸ Community Services and Health, City Health, City of Cape Town, Hertzog Boulevard, Cape Town 8001, South Africa.
⁹ COVID-19 Prevention Network (COVPN), Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA 98109, USA.
¹⁰ Office of the President, South African Medical Research Council, Tygerberg 7050, South Africa.
¹¹ Chief Research Operations Office, South African Medical Research Council, Tygerberg 7050, South Africa.
¹² Centre for Cardio-Metabolic Research in Africa, Division of Medical Physiology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University, Stellenbosch 7600, South Africa.
¹³ Discipline of Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Health Sciences, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville Campus, Durban 4001, South Africa.

PMID: 34831841
PMCID: PMC8618134
DOI: 10.3390/ijerph182212085

Abstract

Recent scientific trends have revealed that the collection and analysis of data on the occurrence and fate of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater may serve as an early warning system for COVID-19. In South Africa, the first COVID-19 epicenter emerged in the Western Cape Province. The City of Cape Town, located in the Western Cape Province, has approximately 4 million inhabitants. This study reports on the monitoring of SARS-CoV-2 RNA in the wastewater of the City of Cape Town's wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) during the peak of the epidemic. During this period, the highest overall median viral RNA signal was observed in week 1 (9200 RNA copies/mL) and declined to 127 copies/mL in week 6. The overall decrease in the amount of detected viral SARS-CoV-2 RNA over the 6-week study period was associated with a declining number of newly identified COVID-19 cases in the city. The SARS-CoV-2 early warning system has now been established to detect future waves of COVID-19.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; South Africa; environmental epidemiology; wastewater.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. The funders had no involvement in the study design, the collection, the analysis and the interpretation of data. The contents are solely the responsibility of the authors.

Figures

**Figure 1**
Spatial representation of SARS-CoV-2 RNA/mL in wastewater from 23 wastewater treatments plants and related catchment areas (suburbs) in the City of Cape Town at 6 sampling timepoints: (a): 6 July 2020 (week 1); (b): 13 July 2020 (week 2); (c): 20 July 2020 (week 3); (d): 27 July 2020 (week 4); (e): 3 August 2020 (week 5); (f): 10 August 2020 (week 6).

**Figure 2**
Number of confirmed new COVID-19 cases in the City of Cape Town from the period of 6 July 2020 to 10 August 2020. Data retrieved from the COVID-19 Dashboard from the Western Cape Provincial Government [6].

See this image and copyright information in PMC

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Spatial and Temporal Trends of SARS-CoV-2 RNA from Wastewater Treatment Plants over 6 Weeks in Cape Town, South Africa

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Spatial and Temporal Trends of SARS-CoV-2 RNA from Wastewater Treatment Plants over 6 Weeks in Cape Town, South Africa

Authors

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Abstract

Conflict of interest statement

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