The Science of the total environment
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Sci. Total Environ. · May 2021
High prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection among food delivery riders. A case study from Quito, Ecuador.
COVID-19 pandemic has posed an unprecedented pressure on health systems and economies worldwide. Delivery services have grown as an alternative source of revenue for many people. Consumers generally perceive that delivery services are safer than going into a restaurant, because they reduce exposure to other people and their risk of SARS-CoV-2 contagion. There are no studies analyzing viral load or the burden of COID-19 within this population. This study aims to describe the presence of SARS-CoV-2 among food delivery riders in the city of Quito, Ecuador. ⋯ The self-employed food delivery riders have a high incidence rate of SARS-CoV-2 infection in relation to the national average. It is important to point out that this is the first study of its kind in Latin-American and probably one of the very few in the world. The results emphasize the need for policy makers to look at the pandemic from as many population's sub-groups as possible. Delivery riders are a highly moving population that offer their services to a wide range of clients, including vulnerable populations such as the elderly or those less likely to leave their house for basic needs stoking.
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Sci. Total Environ. · May 2021
Surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 spread using wastewater-based epidemiology: Comprehensive study.
SARS-CoV-2 pandemic is having a devastating effect on human lives. Recent reports have shown that majority of the individuals recovered from COVID-19 have serious health complications, which is going to be a huge economic burden globally. Given the wide-spread transmission of SARS-CoV-2 it is almost impossible to test every individual in densely populated countries. ⋯ Interestingly, inlet samples of STPs were positive for SARS-CoV-2, while the outlets were negative, which indicates that the standard sewage treatment methods are efficient in eliminating the SARS-CoV-2 viral particles. Based on the detected viral gene copies per litre and viral particle shedding per individual, the total number of individuals exposed to SARS-CoV-2 was estimated. Through this study we suggest that sewage-based surveillance is an effective approach to study the infection dynamics, which helps in efficient management of the SARS-CoV-2 spread.