After two years of testing, the Health Ministry has begun applying artificial analysis (AI)-based technology from Israeli wastewater analysis company Kando to monitor the presence of coronavirus in the country's wastewater.
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Kando's solution, which is backed by Bridges Israel, an investment fund that focuses on Israeli businesses relating to social and environmental impact, uses big data and AI to analyze wastewater, as a tool to help improve public health. Sensors and control units placed in municipal sewage systems provide decision-makers with relevant insights about the spread of COVID and possible new variants.
The Kando-Health Ministry wastewater monitoring project is being carried out in conjunction with the Virology Laboratory at Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer; Ben-Gurion University of the Negev scientists Professors Ariel Kushmaro, Nadav Davidovitch and Jacob Moran-Gilad; and Professor Eran Friedler of the Environmental, Water and Agricultural Engineering Unit of the Faculty of Civil Engineering at the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology.
The plan calls for wastewater in Israeli towns of 20,000 residents are more to be tested twice a week. This is expected to yield representative samples of localized viral loads that will help track morbidity levels in given areas.
Once collected, samples are sent to Ben-Gurion University, where PCR tests adapted for use on wastewater are conducted. If a sample yields positive results, additional tests are performed to determine whether or not the Omicron variant is present and if so, at what level.
The testing procedure takes about 24 hours.
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