SINGAPORE: 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.
Adding to this list is 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, said the city state was now testing waste water extracted from manholes for the virus, reports South China Morning Post.
"This provides an additional indicator to tell us if a specific group, such as those living in a dormitory, has infected people among them," he said during a national address.
Last week, Singapore 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.
Leong Hoe Nam, an infectious diseases expert in Singapore, said waste testing made use of a "peculiar habit" of the coronavirus, which is that it is shed in stools.
"The value of it is that it identifies groups of people infected but not yet presented to the emergency department, meaning you could potentially predict new clusters," he added.
However, he said there were restrictions to the method. For example, if faecal matter extracted from a particular sewer tested positive for the virus, this could mean that hundreds of residents living in that area could have the virus.
"We can notify doctors and hospitals to be on alert and send reminders. But ultimately, finding that individual is like finding a needle in a haystack," added Leong.