Covid Toowoomba: Results from key tool in Covid-19 detection

A key tool in the fight against Covid-19 was rolled out in Toowoomba earlier this year. Now The Chronicle has detailed the results from that testing.

A tool that has been helping Toowoomba and surrounding towns in the fight against Covid has not detected the virus in the Garden City since it began.

An analysis of the wastewater data since the surveillance program began in August is yet to record a positive result from the city’s samples.

Back in August it was announced Toowoomba would be one of a number of local government areas added to the program, which began in July 2020.

Council staff take regular weekly samples from city sewage, which is then tested by the Queensland Alliance for Environmental Health Sciences at University of Queensland.

Other areas tested across the Darling Downs include Warwick, Stanthorpe and Goondiwindi, which just this week had a positive test from its waste.

The test looks for SARS-CoV-2 genetic material.

If there is a positive detection, it could be from a recovered case who is still shedding but is no longer infectious.

It also could mean there is an infectious person living or visiting the area who has not yet been identified.

Mayor Paul Antonio said in August wastewater monitoring was a vital tool for detecting Covid-19 in communities when disease transmission is too low to be identified from clinical testing.

“In other states wastewater surveillance has provided early warning of unknown cases in the community,” he said.

“This type of testing also assists health professionals understanding more about any new variants of the virus.

More than 100 locations across the state currently have their wastewater tested.