According to Le Monde , analyzes have recently made it possible to detect “minimal” traces of Covid-19 in the non-potable water network of the City of Paris. On 12 analyzes carried out from June 22 to 25, 6 were positive, announces the daily. Neither the mayor of Paris, nor the municipal water authority of Paris, nor the Ile-de-France Regional Health Agency, nor the General Directorate of Health were available Wednesday July 8 to answer questions from Le Figaro. .
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This is a first since last April, when the laboratory of the municipal management Eau de Paris had discovered "minute" traces of Covid-19 on 4 of the 27 sampling points tested. The town hall had then decided, as a "precaution", to no longer use its non-potable water network, which usually contributes to watering gardens, cleaning streets and maintaining sewers.
Read also: Traces of coronavirus in non-potable water in Paris, "no risk" for potable water
This observation raises questions about a possible resurgence of the epidemic, at a time when many countries are reconfiguring entire sections of their territory. But the Ile-de-France authorities want to remain cautious for the time being. "Is this a sign that with deconfinement, the epidemic is starting again?" This is worry, but we need additional elements, ” said Anne Souyris, Deputy Mayor of Paris in charge of Health , to Le Monde .
A "precious tool"
What if wastewater monitoring is ultimately one of the best ways to anticipate a possible second wave of the coronavirus epidemic? In any case, this is the opinion of the Academy of Medicine, which published a press release on July 7 in which it described this “ simple indicator ” for monitoring the epidemic as “ a precious tool for predicting possible resurgence by testing the virus for hundreds of thousands of people . "
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" The microbiological analysis of wastewater can play a strategic role in the prospective and regular surveillance of the circulation of the virus, " insists the Academy. It " recommends " to " make systematic " this monitoring " as long as the virus circulates in the population ", and goes further by proposing to extend this systematic surveillance to other viruses. Recommendations in line with those made in April by the Academy of Technologies.
The examination of wastewater can also provide crucial information. In June, the Italian Higher Institute of Health revealed that it had retrospectively analyzed wastewater collected at the end of last year in Milan and Turin. It turned out that traces of Covid-19 were there, which seems to demonstrate that the virus has been circulating since December 2019 in Italy, while the first formally identified case only dates back to February 2020.
