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While viral concentrations remain relatively low, Los Angeles County has observed an increase in coronavirus levels in sewage, the local Department of Public Health told The Times.

It found the chambered structure containing the children's remains at Tuam was in a disused sewage tank.

Repairs take years to complete, she said, adding a buzzer was broken for a year and a sewage system has been faulty since 2012.

But the rapid urbanisation has also exposed Mogadishu to infrastructure challenges - it lacks a proper sewage system and unregulated borehole drilling risks depleting groundwater reserves.

Successive governments have failed to deal with the threat posed by spreading sewage sludge containing toxic chemicals on farmers' fields, a former chair of the Environment Agency has told the BBC.