Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have (1) to monitor sewerage to track COVID-19 prevalence and outbreaks, or (2) to provide funding to local authorities to do so.

The Environmental Monitoring for Health Protection Programme is an innovative way to monitor community health and involves monitoring sewage for the presence of COVID-19, including variants of concern. It provides an understanding where the virus is circulating in the population and identify future potential spikes in infection, so action can be taken to stop transmission. The Programme is rapidly expanding its coverage to provide continuous monitoring at a local level and across England.

Wastewater testing has been used to support several local authorities to rapidly understand where local outbreaks are occurring and to detect the emergence of variants of concern in their areas. This involves working intensively with local authority and public health teams to identify areas for focused wastewater testing. It also provides reassurance to local communities who are impacted. The Programme is funded and delivered in England by the Joint Biosecurity Centre in partnership with the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs at no cost to local authorities.