MILAN (Reuters – An investigation of the water quality revealed that the Omicron coronavirus variant travelled to the majority of the regions of Italy in December according to the government’s National Health Institute.
The research found the highly contagious variant in the sewers of 14 of the country’s 20 regions between Dec. 19 and Dec. 25 The ISS stated, as compared to just one region earlier in the month.
Omicron was identified in 28.4% out of 282 wastewater samples.
Giuseppina Rosa, study coordinator, stated that monitoring the environmental impact of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater is proving to be a key instrument for surveillance of the epidemiology and in understanding the evolution of the pandemic.
The European Union has promoted the importance of monitoring of wastewater for the detection of coronavirus-related mutations.
Italy also conducts swab-based research to identify Omicron which is the most recent one on Dec. 23 pointing to a rapid spread.
It was the first Western country to be struck by the pandemic at the beginning of 2013. In recent weeks, the number of new infections has increased dramatically in Italy. Overall, it has recorded 137,786 deaths linked to the virus and reported 6.4 million cases.
On Monday, the country reported 68.052 new cases, compared to 61.046 the previous day. In addition, the daily number of deaths due to coronavirus climbed to 140 from 133.
