From mass testing tens of thousands of its migrant workers to using serological tests to uncover links between its virus clusters, Singapore has deployed varying methods to stem the spread of the deadly coronavirus. But it is adding to this list a new method of detection: testing sewage for traces of the virus. National development minister Lawrence Wong, who co-heads a multi-ministerial task force that deals with the virus, on Tuesday said the city state was now testing waste water extracted from manholes for viral fragments.
Singapore, with 38,965 infections, last week lifted parts of its partial lockdown but the authorities have stressed that the easing of its measures would be a gradual, cautious one amid fears of a second wave of infections.
The testing of raw sewage is not new. Australia in May said it intended to roll out a vast programme of raw sewage testing for virus traces in waste water and excrement, so it could focus testing and tracing on problem neighbourhoods. Officials said they were looking to monitor samples from some 71 per cent of people in Victoria, one of Australia’s most populous states. “So the whole point of this is to be vigilant and to find undetected cases or re-emergence,” Nicholas Crosbie of Melbourne Water said.
Source: South China Morning Post
Global site 
Finnish site