Amid having the grounds of the rampant spread in the country, the presence of COVID-19 virus has been found in the wastewater beds of India as the group of researchers had revealed the disturbing developments that the genes of SARS-CoV-2 - the virus that causes COVID-19 infection were present at the taint and contaminated waters. 

According to the reports, the researchers from Gujarat Biotechnology Research Center, Gujarat Pollution Control Board, and IIT Gandhinagar had researched the sewage samples that were collected from the wastewater plant at Ahmedabad, Gujarat on May 8 and May 27. The researchers then extracted the viral RNAs from the sewage samples for testing.

They put through the viral RNA to the RT-PCR analysis to ascertain whether the sample had the presence of SARS-CoV-2. Shockingly, the results of the test revealed that the viral RNA samples collected from the wastewater plant on May 8 and May 27 were positive and the samples carried the genes of the virus including N protein (Nucleoprotein) genes, S protein (Spike protein) genes, and ORF1ab. 

These genes are accredited as the genes for COVID-19 viral infection. According to the researchers, the presence of these genes was higher in the wastewater samples that were extracted on May 27  than the amount of genes extracted on May 8.  The researchers attributed more genes to the consistent rise in the affected numbers of COVID-19 cases in the area as the country has been doubling the cases in a short span of time. 

The researchers said the area of the water plant could have seen 3000 cases on May 8 and it could have doubled for 6000 on May 27, reflecting in the rise of the presence of viral genes. The research has been first of its kind in India which had detected the presence of the virus in the wastewater beds. The reports stated that the research was released on June 18 and the water plant, from where the researchers collected the samples, receives up to 106 million liters per day from the Ahmedabad Civic hospital which is treating COVID-19 patients.

According to the reports, the researchers are yet to identify whether the virus can infect or transmit between humans through the contaminated water and they believe that delving into the findings would derive the nation to have an estimate actual COVID-19 infected population. The research has been noted as a step forward for using the wastewater based epidemiology (WBE) for surveilling COVID-19 in the country.

Recently, the study carried out by International Institute of Population Sciences in Mumbai had revealed that COVID-19 pandemic has been eating out India's most productive age group as more than 50% of COVID-19 deaths recorded in the country fell under the age groups of 40-64 or 35-64 as the human to human transmitting virus has been playing an ardent effect on these age categories.

As of Monday morning, India has reported 4,25,282 cases so far of which 1,74,387 are active, 2,37,196 have discharged, and 13,699 had succumbed to the virus, according to the Union Health Ministry.

Must read: COVID-19 shatters India's most productive age group, study reveals! What's the reason?