National SARS-CoV-2 Wastewater Surveillance Programme

A National SARS-CoV-2 Wastewater Surveillance Programme has been developed by a specialist team, with input from the Health Protection Surveillance Centre (HPSC), the HSE, HIU, the National Virus Reference Laboratory (NVRL), UCD School of Biomolecular and Biomedical Science, and Irish Water.

This wastewater surveillance programme is an important part of the work being undertaken to monitor the prevalence of COVID-19 in communities across Ireland. The programme measures the level of SARS-CoV-2 in wastewater within 68 wastewater catchment areas across the country and will effectively operate as an early warning system for possible future waves of COVID-19 infection. More information...

Surveillance reports

Please note that from January 2023, the number of catchment areas included in the National SARS-CoV-2 Wastewater Surveillance Programme (NWSP) changed from 68 to 30. The 30 areas selected for ongoing inclusion allow the NWSP to still maintain a high population coverage and broad geographical representation. Historical data from areas no longer included are not presented in this report but can be viewed in previous reports.