Beneath the bustling streets of Israeli cities, machines hidden away inside sewage pipes are tracking coronavirus outbreaks before residents even fall sick.
“Once there is a surge in these sensors, we know that this area is infected,” said Israel Wall, from wastewater management company Kando.
Standing over a nondescript manhole in Kiryat Malakhi, a town in southern Israel, the engineer points out wires dropping into the darkness.
“You can identify it without the population even knowing about it,” he said of samples taken from sewage pipes which are tested for coronavirus.
Israel has experienced record infection rates in recent weeks, with the Health Ministry reporting more than 1.5 million cases in January.
The true infection rate is likely to be significantly higher for the population of 9.4 million, with about 26 per cent of PCR tests returning positive during the last week of January.
To try to give a more accurate overview of the nation’s health, wastewater samples are being taken and tested for coronavirus.
Whether a person knows they are infected or not, they are unwittingly providing a sample every time they use the toilet.
In towns and cities across Israel, the wastewater project is serving as a “complementary tool” to individual testing, said Jenny Gelman, Kando’s head of communications.
“With that kind of technology, you know what is going on all the time,” she said.
The equipment was already being used to detect industrial pollution in Israel before the pandemic. In other countries, it has been used to pick up everything from polio to drug dens.
A pilot coronavirus project was launched in May 2020 in Ashkelon, an Israeli coastal city where at the time officials believed there were few infections.
“The Ministry of Health information they had was that Ashkelon was a ‘green’ city and the only place we had Covid there was the [state-run quarantine] hotel,” said Ms Gelman.
“The wastewater actually showed an infection rate.”
Further trials proved wastewater testing could serve as an early warning system, indicating a coronavirus outbreak days before it showed up in PCR tests.
With each testing station automatically taking a sample twice a week, the method also provides more consistent results than testing centres for residents.
Prof Gertjan Medema, a microbiologist at KWR Water Research Institute in the Netherlands, said PCR testing centres depended on human behaviour.
“Just before Christmas a lot of people went to get tested to see if it’s safe to see family. This is biasing the clinical testing data,” he said of the Netherlands, where wastewater testing is also in use.
“This bias is much less, because everyone goes to the toilet when they need to,” he said of the sewage samples.
Despite its advantages, however, wastewater testing shows overall trends in urban centres rather than pinpointing precisely who is infected.
That is why it will not supplant individual testing, which will still be necessary for people who may have coronavirus and often for those travelling abroad.
Mapping out falling infection rates
The Kando project is reaching all communities with more than 20,000 residents at a cost of millions of dollars per year. But it inevitably misses those living in areas that are not connected to the wastewater system.
Researchers in South Africa are looking for alternatives, such as testing streams, which drain community waste, said Prof Medema.
For countries with a well-developed sewage network, including the US, the technology is helping officials manage the pandemic response.
In Israel, a colour-coded map of Kando’s data shows some areas glowing green where infections have been falling.
“They’re using this data to make decisions – and that’s amazing,” said Mr Wall.
BIGGEST CYBER SECURITY INCIDENTS IN RECENT TIMES
SolarWinds supply chain attack: Came to light in December 2020 but had taken root for several months, compromising major tech companies, governments and its entities
Microsoft Exchange server exploitation: March 2021; attackers used a vulnerability to steal emails
Kaseya attack: July 2021; ransomware hit perpetrated REvil, resulting in severe downtime for more than 1,000 companies
Log4j breach: December 2021; attackers exploited the Java-written code to inflitrate businesses and governments
How to register as a donor
1) Organ donors can register on the Hayat app, run by the Ministry of Health and Prevention
2) There are about 11,000 patients in the country in need of organ transplants
3) People must be over 21. Emiratis and residents can register.
4) The campaign uses the hashtag #donate_hope
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Tenet
Director: Christopher Nolan
Stars: John David Washington, Robert Pattinson, Elizabeth Debicki, Dimple Kapadia, Michael Caine, Kenneth Branagh
Rating: 5/5
Alita: Battle Angel
Director: Robert Rodriguez
Stars: Rosa Salazar, Christoph Waltz, Keean Johnson
Four stars
Jetour T1 specs
Engine: 2-litre turbocharged
Power: 254hp
Torque: 390Nm
Price: From Dh126,000
Available: Now
Global Fungi Facts
• Scientists estimate there could be as many as 3 million fungal species globally
• Only about 160,000 have been officially described leaving around 90% undiscovered
• Fungi account for roughly 90% of Earth's unknown biodiversity
• Forest fungi help tackle climate change, absorbing up to 36% of global fossil fuel emissions annually and storing around 5 billion tonnes of carbon in the planet's topsoil
SPEC%20SHEET%3A%20APPLE%20IPAD%20PRO%20(12.9%22%2C%202022)
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The specs
Price, base: Dh228,000 / Dh232,000 (est)
Engine: 5.7-litre Hemi V8
Transmission: Eight-speed automatic
Power: 395hp @ 5,600rpm
Torque: 552Nm
Fuel economy, combined: 12.5L / 100km
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2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, (Leon banned).
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
Panipat
Director Ashutosh Gowariker
Produced Ashutosh Gowariker, Rohit Shelatkar, Reliance Entertainment
Cast Arjun Kapoor, Sanjay Dutt, Kriti Sanon, Mohnish Behl, Padmini Kolhapure, Zeenat Aman
Rating 3 /5 stars
The Details
Article 15
Produced by: Carnival Cinemas, Zee Studios
Directed by: Anubhav Sinha
Starring: Ayushmann Khurrana, Kumud Mishra, Manoj Pahwa, Sayani Gupta, Zeeshan Ayyub
Our rating: 4/5
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City's slump
L - Juventus, 2-0
D - C Palace, 2-2
W - N Forest, 3-0
L - Liverpool, 2-0
D - Feyenoord, 3-3
L - Tottenham, 4-0
L - Brighton, 2-1
L - Sporting, 4-1
L - Bournemouth, 2-1
L - Tottenham, 2-1
THE SPECS
Engine: 1.5-litre
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Power: 110 horsepower
Torque: 147Nm
Price: From Dh59,700
On sale: now
Honeymoonish
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Washmen Profile
Date Started: May 2015
Founders: Rami Shaar and Jad Halaoui
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Laundry
Employees: 170
Funding: about $8m
Funders: Addventure, B&Y Partners, Clara Ventures, Cedar Mundi Partners, Henkel Ventures
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
TERMINAL HIGH ALTITUDE AREA DEFENCE (THAAD)
What is THAAD?
It is considered to be the US's most superior missile defence system.
Production:
It was created in 2008.
Speed:
THAAD missiles can travel at over Mach 8, so fast that it is hypersonic.
Abilities:
THAAD is designed to take out ballistic missiles as they are on their downward trajectory towards their target, otherwise known as the "terminal phase".
Purpose:
To protect high-value strategic sites, such as airfields or population centres.
Range:
THAAD can target projectiles inside and outside the Earth's atmosphere, at an altitude of 150 kilometres above the Earth's surface.
Creators:
Lockheed Martin was originally granted the contract to develop the system in 1992. Defence company Raytheon sub-contracts to develop other major parts of the system, such as ground-based radar.
UAE and THAAD:
In 2011, the UAE became the first country outside of the US to buy two THAAD missile defence systems. It then stationed them in 2016, becoming the first Gulf country to do so.
AI traffic lights to ease congestion at seven points to Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Street
The seven points are:
Shakhbout bin Sultan Street
Dhafeer Street
Hadbat Al Ghubainah Street (outbound)
Salama bint Butti Street
Al Dhafra Street
Rabdan Street
Umm Yifina Street exit (inbound)
MATCH INFO
Sheffield United 2 Bournemouth 1
United: Sharp (45 2'), Lundstram (84')
Bournemouth: C Wilson (13')
Man of the Match: Jack O’Connell (Sheffield United)
