COVID-19 in environment: Treatment, Infectivity, Monitoring, Estimation (TIME)

Abstract

The Virtual Special Issue (VSI) entitled “COVID-19 in Environment: Treatment, Infectivity, Monitoring, Estimation (TIME)” mainly brings together the different themes and perspectives related to wastewater epidemiology related to COVID-19. The issue further concentrates on the idea of the very much required scientific studies of the wastewater containing the SARS-CoV RNA; its contagious attributes if any; and the very important possibility of estimation and monitoring of patients based on the wastewater epidemiology. We have brought global perspectives related to the most suitable estimations methods based on SARS-COV-RNA data and development of an approach combining wastewater epidemiology and clinical diagnostic test could facilitate surveillance of public health system for informed decision making for better and effective treatment methods on one platform, thereby facilitating the expansion of the reach of these ideas and their audience. This VSI is going to act as an interface for microbiologists, environmental engineers, data scientists, civil engineers, remote-sensing experts, and modelers to integrate their findings on the aforementioned topics to etch out the probability of relative environmental risks and human health challenges. It has undergone an open call for papers and a rigorous peer-review process, where each submission has been evaluated by a panel of experts. In total, twenty-two articles could pass the test of external referees that represent the ongoing research and development activities in the topical research area of COVID-19 wastewater surveillance.