POO from people in the Black Country could play a vital role in the fight against Covid.

Birmingham and the Black Country are one of 44 areas in England where testing of sewage is taking place to check for levels of the virus.

The hope is it will give an early warning of any Covid outbreak – even when people in the area are not showing symptoms.

The government-led programme monitoring sewage across the country is now sharing information with the Joint Biosecurity Centre as part of NHS Test and Trace.

The Minworth Sewage Treatment Works, which deals with sewage from nearly two million people in the Black Country and parts of Birmingham, is one of the sites where testing takes place.

Fragments of genetic material from the virus can be detected in wastewater. This can then indicate where a local community or an institution is experiencing a spike in cases.

The results can provide local health professionals with a clearer picture of infection rates by identifying where there are high numbers, particularly for asymptomatic carriers and before people start showing symptoms. This will allow local authorities to take early action to slow the spread of the virus.

The idea of using poo to learn about public health is not new.

“Sewage is a rich source of information about community health, Emma Howard Boyd, Chair of the Environment Agency.

Dr Davey Jones, Professor of Soil & Environmental Science at Bangor University, said: “We have been monitoring viruses like Norovirus and Hepatitis in human sewage for the last decade, as part of a programme to evaluate levels of these viruses in the community. We added COVID-19 to the surveillance list in March this year.”

“This research shows that our wastewater system can be used to identify coronavirus hotspots early, which could significantly help our ability to contain local outbreaks.