Coronavirus in Wastewater and Biosolids
By: Kelly Ward, Technical Project Assistant (Co-Op Student)
On March 11th, 2020 the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a global pandemic and instructed countries to take urgent and aggressive action against its development1. COVID-19 is a respiratory illness of varying severity, caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. Human pathogenic viruses, such as coronaviruses, enter the atmosphere through feces, urine, and bodily secretions including saliva, blood, and sweat2. The virus is most commonly transmitted when an infected person releases liquid droplets into the air while coughing and sneezing in the vicinity of another person.
As transmission of the virus can occur through bodily fluids, it is important to understand the impact of wastewater treatment on the virus, its transmission and infectivity. Since the COVID-19 coronavirus is novel, there was no existing research in…