Assessing Multiplex Tiling PCR Sequencing Approaches for Detecting Genomic Variants of SARS-CoV-2 in Municipal Wastewater

Abstract

Monitoring the genomic characteristics of the SARS-CoV-2 virus circulating in a population can shed important insights into epidemiological aspects of the COVID-19 outbreak. Sequencing every clinical patient sample in a highly populous area is a difficult feat, and thus sequencing SARS-CoV-2 RNA in municipal wastewater offers great promise to augment genomic surveillance by characterizing a pooled population sample matrix, particularly during an escalating outbreak.