Airplane wastewater will undergo testing for the Covid-19 causative agent at Vilnius Airport, Lithuania’s Health Ministry said on Thursday.
The move is part of the European Union’s overall response to the surge in coronavirus infections in China. Belgium, the Netherlands, Austria, and other countries have already launched such tests.
In Lithuania, wastewater testing has been ongoing since November, when the testing of samples from the three largest wastewater treatment plants started. From now on, airplane wastewater will also be randomly tested once a week.
The XBB.1.5 Covid-19 strain is now causing concern as it spreads faster than other strains circulating in North America and Europe. Individual XBB.1.5 cases have already been recorded in Lithuania and some other EU countries. There’s currently no evidence that this strain causes more severe forms of the disease.
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