Correlating Quantitative and Genomic SARS-CoV-2 Wastewater Data with Clinical Metrics in Metropolitan Perth, Western Australia (preprint)

Wastewater-based epidemiology (WBE) has emerged as a key method for continuous monitoring of COVID-19 prevalence including circulating SARS-CoV-2 lineages. WBE addresses limitations of traditional clinical COVID-19 surveillance such as clinical test availability, fluctuating testing rates and increased reliance on rapid antigen tests. Our study in Perth, Western Australia, found a significant positive correlation between SARS-CoV-2 concentrations in wastewater and clinical PCR positivity rates (rs = 0.772; p < 0.001) over an 18-month period that included four successive COVID-19 waves. A strong positive correlation was apparent between the proportions of SARS-CoV-2 lineages in wastewater and clinical cases within the same region (rs = 0.728; p < 0.001), including earlier detection of Omicron and recombinant lineages in wastewater before clinical case confirmation. The successful integration of WBE with healthcare data underscores its critical role in enhancing public health decision-making and pandemic management. This approach not only demonstrates the value of WBE in current global health surveillance efforts but also highlights the potential of WBE to address future public health challenges, as a comprehensive disease monitoring and response approach.

Tracing surveillance and auto-regulation in Singapore: ‘smart’ responses to COVID-19

The wealthy and ?smart? city-state of Singapore was one of the first to develop a mobile tracing app called TraceTogether during the coronavirus outbreak. It then pivoted towards developing a wearable tech device in order to reach all 5.7 million residents, brushing off concerns about privacy and surveillance. This article tracks the development of TraceTogether and engages in critical debates that have ensued around the use of the app, namely around the twin implications of privacy protection and the conduct of surveillance in a panoptic and auto-regulatory society that privileges socio-political discipline and control. With health crises and pandemics becoming more commonplace, more people around the world are being persuaded to wear some loss of privacy to trust ?smart? technologies to aid us in fighting enemies that are deadly and invisible. Singapore could already be offering a glimpse of how this can be done now, and in the future.