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Agence France-Presse

Several countries have said they will monitor the waste water from flights originating from China in response to an explosion of Covid-19 cases across the nation.
While the measure will not prevent the spread of the virus, it will give a glimpse into the scale of China’s outbreak and whether new variants are emerging there.
The process involves examining the mixture of urine and faeces from the toilets of flights that have arrived from China.
The waste water can then be analysed to discover roughly what percentage of the passengers have Covid, as well as the particular variants.
Australia, Japan ramp up testing for China arrivals. Malaysia, New Zealand don’t
Local authorities collect the waste water directly after the aircraft lands and send it to laboratories for testing.
Once the virus has been detected, its genome is sequenced to find out if it is a known subvariant.
Waste water can also be collected from an entire airport, but this makes it impossible to determine which country the samples originated from.
Belgium, Canada, Austria and Australia are among the countries that have already indicated they will test the waste water of planes coming from China.


The United States is also considering the measure, according to US media reports.
The European Union on Wednesday “strongly encouraged” its member states to impose pre-departure Covid-19 testing of passengers from China, in a move that is likely to upset Beijing and has already been criticised by the global airline industry.
Following a week of talks between EU health experts, the bloc stopped short of agreeing that all 27 member states impose such a travel restriction that members like Italy, France and Spain had already implemented at a national level. Instead, it only urged nations to do so.
While examining waste water “works remarkably well” however, it does not give an “exhaustive view” of the infections or variants on board the plane, said French virologist Vincent Marechal.

Infections have soared in China since last month when it started lifting its strict zero-Covid measures, in place since the start of the pandemic.
Several countries including the US have said they require passengers arriving from China to provide negative Covid tests, sparking Beijing’s ire.
Unlike such tests, monitoring waste water would not bar people currently positive for Covid.
However, “these samples offer a window into what is currently happening in China,” said Antoine Flahault, director of the Institute of Global Health at the University of Geneva.
South Korea hunts Chinese Covid-positive escapee who fled quarantine hotel
This could be particularly important with “doubts about the transparency and diligence of the official health information coming from the Chinese government,” he said.
The World Health Organization on Wednesday criticised Beijing’s “very narrow” definition of Covid deaths and said China’s official statistics “under-represent” hospital admissions and deaths in the country.
Monitoring waste water could help fill the breach, said Flahault.
“Knowing that 30 to 50 per cent of passengers from China are currently infected is useful, in the absence of reliable figures,” he said.




It also allows countries to find out about possible new variants that could change the trajectory of the pandemic, like Omicron did in late 2021.
Health experts have warned that the explosion of cases among China’s 1.4 billion population could provide a fertile breeding ground for new strains.
Monitoring waste water is much easier to carry out – and far less invasive – than testing arriving passengers at the airport.
One limitation is that waste water can only monitor those passengers who used the toilet during the flight.


It also takes days to collect, test, sequence and analyse the findings, which cannot be broken down by individual passengers.
This offers few avenues to quickly act on the results.
“Once you have the information, what can you do with it? Call back all the people who were on the plane?” asked Marechal.
“It is interesting, but is already too late for the measures that one can take.”
Additional reporting by Associated Press


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Why monitor waste water of flights arriving from China for Covid?

Several countries have said they will monitor the waste water from flights originating from China in response to an explosion of Covid-19 cases across the nation. Photo: Xinhua/File

Travellers wait to board their plane at Chengdu Shuangliu International Airport amid a wave of Covid infections, in Chengdu, Sichuan province, China. Photo: Reuters/File

Testing Chinese poop not people: Malaysia spurns Covid plans of Japan, India for China’s reopening, vows to screen waste water on inbound flights

Spectators take photos of a Chinese passenger jet. Photo: AFP

Spectators take photos of a Chinese passenger jet. Malaysia has said it will test the waste water off flights from China for Covid-19, but not the passengers. Photo: AFP

A health official checks passengers for fever using a thermal scanner at Kuala Lumpur International Airport in January 2020. Photo: EPA-EFE

Despite boom in Chinese travel demand, Asian airlines hold out on boosting flights

Travellers with their luggage at Beijing Capital International Airport. China has said it will ease tough border measures from January 8. Photo: Reuters

A traveller walks near a banner for the coronavirus testing centre at Incheon International Airport on Friday. South Korea has imposed mandatory Covid-19 tests on visitors from China. Photo: Yonhap via AP

Scoot operates weekly flights from Singapore to seven Chinese cities. Photo: NurPhoto via Getty Images

Passengers from Shanghai arrive at Narita airport on Friday, with a notice board (left) seen showing the Japanese government’s new restrictions requiring all air travellers from mainland China to take a Covid-19 test upon arrival. Photo: Kyodo

EU wants Chinese visitors to give negative Covid test and wear mask on plane

Travellers at Heathrow Airport in London on Wednesday. The UK is requiring people arriving from China to show a negative Covid-19 test taken no more than two days before their departure. Photo: EPA-EFE

Travellers arriving from China walk past information banners and receive free Covid-19 self-test kits at Amsterdam’s Schiphol Airport on Wednesday. Photo: ANP/AFP

Places with new Covid-19 rules for China travellers

A passenger of a flight from Beijing leaves the terminal after landing at the Adolfo Suarez Madrid-Barajas airport on the outskirts of Madrid, on December 31, 2022. Photo: AFP/File

‘Pandemic not over’: India randomly tests visitors after Covid surge in China

A health worker collects a swab sample from a traveler to test for Covid-19 at a train station in Mumbai, India. Photo: AP/File

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Measure will not prevent the spread of the virus, but will give a glimpse into the scale of China’s outbreak and if new variants are emerging there
The downside is that it only monitor passengers who used the toilet during the flight, and takes days to collect, test, sequence and analyse the findings


While the measure will not prevent the spread of the virus, it will give a glimpse into the scale of China’s outbreak and whether new variants are emerging there.


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Coronavirus pandemic

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Coronavirus pandemic: All stories

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