Detecting Covid early has been enhanced in Israel by a new tool developed by Kando, which allows decision-makers to take swift, optimal decisions based on accurate information. After several successful pilot projects conducted over the past two years, Israel's Ministry of Health has begun applying Kando's innovative technology for monitoring Covid from wastewater.
Kando's solution is based on sensors and control units placed in municipal sewage systems with computer analysis, big data, and AI, which presents decision-makers with relevant insights and warnings. These warnings are about latent morbidity, and the beginning of a future wave of morbidity, and the discovery of new variants by the geographical identification of the focuses of the outbreak.
The project is being conducted in collaboration with the Ministry of Health, the Virology Laboratory at Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer, Kando, and researchers from Ben Gurion University and the Technion.
In the project, towns of more than 20,000 people will be monitored twice a week. The solution enables the collection of representative samples in a way that optimizes the potential to detect indications of the virus, according to the viral load in the wastewater, and to monitor the level of morbidity in a particular area. The samples collected are sent to the laboratories at Ben Gurion University where PCR tests for wastewater are conducted. If the results are positive, a further test is carried out to quantify the Omicron variant and other variants. This procedure takes about 24 hours, from taking the sample until receiving the results, at the end of which a picture of the real situation is formed.
Kando is backed by Bridges Israel, an impact investment fund investing in Israeli businesses relating to social and environmental impact.
Kando, which was founded in 2012, is based in Tzur Yigal. The company is headed by co-founder and CEO Ari Goldfarb, co-founder and CRO Zohar Sheinin, and Chief Growth Officer (CGO) Gili Elkin. The technology is based on systems deployed in municipal sewage systems that make use of sophisticated analysis, in order to present relevant insights and warnings to authorities. The company utilizes big data and AI in analyzing wastewater in order to improve the quality of the environment and the health of the public.