AQW 20006/17-22

Ms Paula Bradshaw
Alliance Party
South Belfast

Tabled Date: 07/06/2021
Answered On Date: 22/06/2021
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs (i) for an update on the outcomes from monitoring wastewater for the coronavirus; and (ii) how these have been publicised.

Answer:

(i) The wastewater surveillance programme is currently testing samples from 14 wastewater treatment works twice per week. These sites were selected to achieve the broadest population coverage using a Geographical Information Science (GIS) based approach and cover approximately 37% of the population. This is complemented with more intensive, localised monitoring when required to inform clinical testing strategies. Results to date indicate varying levels of coronavirus in the wastewater treatment works sampled and the trends are in line with clinical testing trends. Viral infectivity studies conducted during the project has found none in the samples tested, in line with the results obtained for wastewater in other countries. Wastewater surveillance can help detect the SARS-Cov-2 virus in both symptomatic and asymptomatic populations and as such can have an important role in helping to monitor overall viral activity and to identify any new variants that may emerge.

(ii) The Department of Health has advised that the wastewater testing is being used to monitor and track virus activity. It complements the clinical surveillance by providing information on the prevalence and spread of the disease. Results from wastewater surveillance are also used by the Public Health Agency to inform approaches to COVID testing where appropriate. Information also provides a sentinel system to track virus levels in the community, which again inform public health intervention as appropriate. This work has involved close co-operation between Queen’s University Belfast (QUB), DAERA, Department of Health, Public Health Agency and Northern Ireland Water. The team from QUB gave an update on the programme and the results obtained to date to the Chief Medical Officer and the NI Strategic Intelligence Group on 7 June 2021.