Officials taking a sample from a sewage treatment facility in this file photo provided by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency.
SEOUL, July 24 (Korea Bizwire) — With South Korea experiencing a slight increase in new coronavirus cases in recent months, health authorities have noted a growing concentration of the virus in sewage.
According to the weekly report from the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA), the concentration level of coronaviruses in the country’s water processing facilities during the 28th week of this year (July 9 to 15) stood at 1,620,995 virus copies per milliliter.
This figure represents a three-week moving average, calculated based on the concentration levels measured at 64 water processing facilities in 17 cities and provinces, considering the size of the population in each region.
Notably, the levels increased by 45 percent from the previous week.
During the same week, the number of people confirmed to have contracted COVID-19 was 153,976, indicating a 19 percent increase from the previous week.
In June, the number of COVID-19 cases had decreased slightly before starting to climb again in July, reaching a peak of 34,120 new cases on July 12, the highest number since January.
Sewage-based monitoring of infectious diseases calculates the number of infections by analyzing the number of viruses contained in sewage, and international organizations like the World Health Organization (WHO) recommend it as an effective method of monitoring infectious diseases.
This year, South Korean health authorities introduced sewage-based monitoring.
“There are some discrepancies in some regions, but on a national scale, the correlation is sound,” a KDCA official said.
H. M. Kang (hmkang@koreabizwire.com)
