UK searching for COVID-19 cure in its sewage system, says Ahmad

WESTERN BUREAU:

WITH THE COVID-19 death toll in the United Kingdom now over 50,000 and new positive cases steadily increasing, British High Commissioner to Jamaica Asif Ahmad has revealed that medical experts are now testing sewage and treatment plants for a cure for the virus in much the same way they did with cholera in 1854.

In 1854, the cure for cholera was reportedly found by Dr John Snow, using resources from sewage systems. Ahmad believes that this same method could be the answer being sought to address the COVID-19 pandemic.

Snow, who has been credited with discovering the cure for cholera, was a controversial figure in England who chose to use unorthodox means of research that were not supported in his effort, which tracked the 1854 Soho outbreak back to a contaminated treatment pump. “Sewage systems are not just about getting the unnecessary stuff out of your buildings. They themselves are part of the answer of detecting and dealing with pandemics,” said Ahmad.

“I take you back to 1854 when the cure for cholera in London was found by Dr Snow because he discovered that the source was a water pump in the old City of London,” said Ahmad while delivering the keynote address at the just-concluded Caribbean Sustainable Cities conference hosted by The University of the West Indies Mona- Western Jamaica Campus in Montego Bay.

According to the high commissioner, the British Government is now waiting on test results that were done on several sewage systems in the United Kingdom.

“Today, instead of just waiting for the test results of COVID, tests are being done in sewage and treatment plants because they can actually trace localities of higher traces of the virus,” noted Ahmad.

Just over a week ago, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson imposed new coronavirus restrictions, forcing people to remain at home as a second wave of the deadly virus has caused additional deaths and a rapid increase in new positive cases.

As of November 11, the coronavirus is responsible for 50,365 deaths in the UK, and its infection numbers have catapulted to a total of 1,256,725 cases. Of those infected, 185,737 are being admitted to hospitals across the country.