SARS-CoV-2 wastewater surveillance in Shenzhen during the transition from "dynamic COVID-zero" to "opening up" policy

This study highlights pioneering work in the use of wastewater surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 conducted during the transition from "dynamic COVID-zero" to "opening up" in China. The study reported first about the high proportion of faecal viral shedding of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron cases, showcasing the generality of wastewater surveillance for tracking Omicron prevalence. On the one hand, wastewater surveillance can play roles in providing early warning and revealing cryptic transmission and has the potential to replace city-wide nucleic acid screening under stringent control measures. On the flip side, wastewater surveillance allows for robust predictions of the number of infected individuals, the relative abundance of SARS-CoV-2 lineages, and the rate of hospital admission after the public health policy was switched to relaxed COVID-19 restrictions.