Author | M. Martínez EuklidiadasCould the analysis of wastewater from a population be used to alert hospitals or prevent coronavirus outbreaks? A recent study published in mid-June confirms that this is possible. In this document, Jordan Peccia et al. managed to predict a hospital peak one week in advance by tracing SARS-CoV-2 RNA concentrations in the local sewage.But, what exactly does this mean and how can it be used? Can we transform this knowledge into a coronavirus detection tool?
Wastewater can provide information of covid-19 infection for entire populations

Machine learning, IA and microbiology tools to detect coronavirus outbreaks
The BlueDot software, already known for predicting an outbreak of Zika one month in advance back in 2016, issued an alert for a strange “pneumonia” on December 31, 2019. It was COVID-19. Governments took months to react. And what if we had better analysis tools?The universities of Berkeley, UCSF and Stanford joined forces some time back to form the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub, a hub that has created an interesting tool to forecast unidentified infections and the spread of these. They also help in conducting mass testing.We know that new coronavirus outbreaks have appeared all over the world. Japan, Singapore, Spain, Pakistan, France, Russia or China have already reported new outbreaks. And the USA and India are still experiencing the worst of the first wave. Predictive tools will be essential in order to alleviate hospitals and prevent the spread.The importance of preventive management and anticipation to reduce risks
